By Amrita Singh
Gold or real estate? This thought crosses almost every first-time investor’s mind before embarking on their investment journey, as the ultimate goal is to get maximum returns out of their investments.
Let's make it simple. Think of it like a maths problem.. In 2015, two individuals- A & B - each had Rs 10 lakh to invest - while A invested in gold, B decided to go for real estate. How much are their respective investments worth 10 years later in 2026? The question sounds simple, but answer not so much.
Let's start with A. In 2015, with an average price of Rs 26,350 per 10g for 24K gold, Rs 10 lakhs would have bought 380 grams of gold. In July 2026, at an average price of Rs 1.65 lakhs per 10g, the same Rs 10 lakhs is worth nearly Rs 63 lakh, with a CAGR of around 18%.
This incredible gain can be attributed to factors like a steady decline in the Rupee, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, ongoing geopolitical tensions and aggressive buying by central banks worldwide. As per experts, gold's upward run is likely to continue in the near future.
The plus points of gold as compared to real estate are that it maintains its purchasing power in times of economic uncertainty, its portability, and high liquidity (easy to buy and sell).
Investment in real estate is more difficult to evaluate as there is no single nationwide benchmark to calculate return. Property prices vary significantly depending on factors like locality, city, infrastructure development, property type and rental demand. Residential markets in Metro cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and some parts of Delhi NCR have different growth trajectories as compared to other Indian cities. Infrastructure growth and housing demand in many cities have also pushed up property prices. Unlike gold, real estate offers two types of returns: capital appreciation and rental income making it an attractive investment option for investors.
An additional important point is accessibility. In 2015, investing in real estate required a large amount of money and a long investment plan, regular maintenance and offered poor liquidity. However, digital real estate, with platforms like Alt DRX, has increased the accessibility of real estate. Now, thanks to real estate tokenisation, the primary feature of digital real estate, one can invest in properties and land with amounts as low as Rs. 10,000.
In real estate tokenisation, a property is divided into smaller digital units, offering investors the flexibility of owning a fraction of the asset These units can be easily sold on digital marketplaces, offering high liquidity, usually unheard of in the real estate market. Ownership records and transactions are maintained on blockchain, giving more transparency and security. The bottom line: Gold and real estate are complementary assets and both should be held within a diversified portfolio. Gold acts as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty, while real estate provides long term wealth creation through capital appreciation and income Tokenised digital real estate has made investment in real estate easier, more accessible and within the budget of a middle-class investor.
