Real estate is nearly always a good investment.... at least your primary residence. Even with the fluctuations in the market, people who take care of their homes, nearly always see a profit, if and when they sell. I don't know if the rate of return always equals the current rates but I don't know of anyone who has taken a loss when selling their homes.

As for savings, they're highly overrated at the current interest rates. Most working people don't see any use of letting banks use their money and only get a one or one and a half percent return on that money. Maybe more people are buying safes and keeping their cash at home. This also keeps down taxes on the interest income. We pay taxes over and over again on the same money. What you keep at home, at least removes a couple of layers of taxes.