I look at "leveraging" point of view, RE is a lot better because

for example, I only use 10-20% cash to borrow 80-90% bank's money to do RE investment. Over the long term, the renters will help to pay down the principals. This is called leverage. Leverage is in fact the one and only reason why you want to get involved in Real estate. Without leverage, real estate investment present no appeal. Leverage is also a double edged sword. If the leveraged is based on good and healthy cash flow, it will cut in the right way. Otherwise, it will cut in the wrong way.