It is a constant debate: what is the best investment? Is it shares or property? Should you buy gold bullion or tip extra money into your superannuation?

Lets have a look back at the past decade to see how these investments have performed.

Gold is the winner for pure gains but a rising Aussie dollar rubbed off some of the shine. Still, in $US per ounce it’s up a massive 284 per cent.

Houses

The median Australian house price has climbed 127 per cent in the past decade but there are big differences between the best and worst.

The big winners are Darwin (up 223 per cent), Hobart and Perth (both 208 per cent), data from the Real Estate Institute of Australia has found.

Adelaide’s median house price has climbed 176 per cent during the decade.

As a rule of thumb, residential property doubles every 10 years.

Sydney was the only city to underperform, with a 93 per cent increase.

However, this does not tell the whole story. The median Sydney price, currently at $569,000 is still below its $571,000 high in 2004.

Shares

It has been a rocky road for shares during the past decade, with two bear markets and a long boom. The All Ordinaries index of 500 companies is up 49 per cent over the past 10 years.

Australian Stock Report head of research Steven Dooley says the energy sector had a great decade as the oil price rose from about $US10 a barrel to highs near $US150 in mid-2008.

Consumer staples companies showed that slow and steady wins the race.

Superannuation

Super is technically not an asset it’s a structure to hold your investments and it has been hit for six during the past 18 months.

However, it’s on the way back up again, and for the decade the average balanced fund has still climbed 72 per cent.

The global financial crisis wiped 20 per cent off the average balanced fund in 2008, while the year before super was down 6.4 per cent.

But the GFC was not the only glitch during the decade. The 2002 Asian financial crisis caused losses of almost 5 per cent.

“The funds soon shook that off, however, and we had five strong years of predominantly double-digit growth,” SuperRatings chief operating officer Nathan McPhee says.

“People soon just expected that those extraordinary levels of growth were normal.”

Wine

Australians’ love of wine can be justified by investors to a point. Average prices of premium reds have climbed 78 per cent, although most wine is still traded on the secondary market for pleasure.

“The fine wine market is today’s modern spice trade,” Langton’s auctioneer Andrew Caillard says.

During the past 10 years, however, the wine market has developed a bit of a “cult phenomenon” where unheard-of wines can fetch more than $1000 a bottle.

“Don’t borrow money to buy wine. There are no guarantees of making returns,” Mr Caillard says.

Very rare wines, however, are a market to themselves with some Australian rare wine up 300 per cent this year.

Cash

It has been an uneventful start and finish for cash investments for the decade.

In December 1999 the average one-year, fixed-term deposit rate was 5.22 per cent.

Today it is 5.09 per cent, according to RateCity. The average during the decade was 5.3 per cent.

Unlike shares and property, cash does not deliver capital growth only income but is seen as a safe investment.

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Commercial Property

Listed property trusts offer the easiest access for investors to commercial property but what a shocker of a decade for this sector. The Listed Property Trust index fell 31 per cent.

During the decade, many trusts started at just 50 per unit, rode the back of the global property bubble up to $8 or $9 then tumbled back again, Australian Stock Report’s Steven Dooley says. Other trusts were wiped out.

Thoroughbreds

The average yearling sale price has jumped 88 per cent during the decade.

“The globalisation of the industry has been a boon to Australian horses because it has brought international investment and recognition during the past 10 years,” Inglis commercial manager Matt Rudolph says.

“In Australia, anyone can be an investor but in the UK or Europe, for example, it is often only for the elite. Here you can dream of winning a Golden Slipper or a Melbourne Cup. You only have to have a look at the past winners to see it can happen.”

Gold

If you put your money in gold 10 years ago, you’d be on a winner, with 284 per cent growth.

Although currency fluctuations have boosted the price recently, the sector is still seen as a haven and a growth asset.

There is a real bull market in gold, says Daily Reckoning gold analyst Bill Bonner.

“It’s what you buy when you think government is making a mess of the monetary situation. You put your trust in gold as an antidote, as protection, as wealth insurance.”

Diamonds

Diamonds have not been a girl’s best friend this decade, with virtually no growth a mere 0.5 per cent.

According to the international benchmark index of South Africa’s PolishedPrices.com, diamond prices roughly ended the past 10 years at the same place they started. However there were a few ups and downs.

PolishedPrices spokesman Richard Platt says diamonds reached a peak in August last year, but even that high translated to a mere 18 per cent increase since 1999.

So, the next time you are told in the jewellery store that it’s a ‘great investment’, refer them to this article.

Where have you found some great value from investments?

PD