The days of property as a sure-fire route to wealth are over, according to a stark warning from investment firm Rathbones. New analysis by the firm suggests that the once-booming housing market no longer offers the returns that made it a cornerstone of many investment strategies.

In a report published this week, Rathbones reveals that house prices, which soared between 1980 and 2016, have since lost their edge. For more than three decades, UK property prices rose by an average of 6.7% annually, with London properties outperforming the rest of the country at 8.5% per year. These gains, the firm notes, were fuelled by falling interest rates and a chronic undersupply of new homes.

But since 2016, the landscape has shifted. London house prices have risen by a meagre 1.3% annually—lagging inflation by 2.2 percentage points. Across the rest of the UK, prices have barely kept pace with inflation.

In contrast, equities have continued to deliver real returns. A diversified portfolio comprising 25% UK and 75% global stocks has grown by 3.4 percentage points above inflation each year since 2016, according to the report. Rathbones argues that this performance makes the stock market a far more compelling option for long-term investors.

“People have clung to the belief that you can’t go wrong with bricks and mortar,” said Oliver Jones, head of asset allocation at Rathbones. “But the data shows that diversified global investments have decisively outperformed property over the past decade—and we believe this trend will continue.”

Jones pointed to several structural changes underpinning the shift: the end of a prolonged decline in interest rates, a rise in homebuilding, and a series of regulatory and tax changes that have made property investment less attractive. “Government policy has become progressively less favourable to residential property investors since the mid-2010s,” he said. “The idea that money is safest in houses simply is not true anymore.”

The firm’s findings are particularly grim for landlords and owners of second homes. High interest rates, slowing house price growth, and increasing regulation have made many buy-to-let ventures “unviable” as businesses, Rathbones claims.

To underscore the shift, the report compares a £100 investment in London property in 2016—now worth £111—to the same amount invested in equities, which would have grown to £174.

Ade Babatunde, associate financial planning director at Rathbones, said the report should serve as a “wake-up call” for those relying on property to secure their financial futures.

“We’re hearing from many people who own second properties or buy-to-lets and are asking whether now is the time to exit the market,” Babatunde said. “This research makes the case for rethinking traditional assumptions around property. The old idea that it will always deliver simply no longer holds true. We strongly recommend seeking advice.”