If You Live in Vegas, You Might Want to Buy More Bonds

The collapse of housing prices five years ago made a lot of people question whether owning a home was a good investment. But you probably never connected where you live with how you invest.

That’s a mistake, says David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Morningstar. Blanchett argues in a recent paper that investors’ strategy for building retirement wealth should look beyond typical portfolio considerations -- stocks versus bonds, growth versus value -- and take into account the health of your real estate market.

“Real estate is the largest physical asset most households have,” Blanchett says. And it can be an important financial asset: Home equity could be tapped to help fund retirement, or a paid-off home passed along to heirs.

But, as the housing bust taught us the hard way, a downturn in home prices can wipe out equity in a flash. Especially if you own a home in a market where prices are volatile, such as Las Vegas, Miami, or Washington D.C.

In that case, you might want to adjust your investment strategy, according to Morningstar. Here are some ways your housing situation could impact your investing style:

If you live in a one-company town: Invest more conservatively. A city dominated by one industry or one company leaves you vulnerable. “If that company went out of business, or had a significant layoff, lots of people might all want to move at the same time,” Blanchett says. Even if you don’t work for the company, you’re still exposed.

If you have a lot of equity in your home: Invest more aggressively. The more equity you have in your home, the less affected you are by pricing changes. For example, if you’ve just purchased your home with 10% down, a 10% decline in home prices would completely erase the value of your investment. That same decline for someone who has paid off the mortgage would represent a much less significant loss. “You can afford to take on more risk in other parts of your portfolio,” Blanchett says.

If you rent: Increase your allocation to REITs. Stashing a 5%-10% chunk of your portfolio in real estate investment trusts is a common diversification tactic. But owning a home also exposes you to real estate. If you have a lot of home equity, or live in a riskier market, you want to stay at the low end of that allocation. If you rent, on the other hand, you could put closer to 10% of your nest egg in REITs, Blanchett says.