It has been revealed that residential property investment in England and Wales has massively outperformed other major asset classes over the last two decades, according to the latest index from Property Partner.

The Property Partner Residential Market Index shows that £100 invested in London’s property market would be worth 10 times as much today, whereas in England and Wales as a whole it would be worth £600.

The new analysis reveals that, over 20 years, residential property has represented a lower risk to investors, even when compared to gold, traditionally considered to be a safe haven.

The index places focus upon the performance of residential property as an asset class, net of operating costs and capital improvement expenditure. 

The index has uncovered how the huge increase in property prices in London and the South East in particular has squeezed yields for investors operating in these areas.

Buy-to-let landlords in the North East can now expect to earn an annual net income of 4%, whereas the average net yield in the capital has fallen to 2.7% in the year to November 2015.

Property Partner’s CEO, Daniel Gandesha, commented: “Residential property investment has long been considered attractive, but there has been a lack of objective and accurate data taking into account the typical costs associated with the asset class.”

Commenting on his crowdfunding platform, Gandesha added that it is “opening up the asset class to investors of all sizes; delivering innovation into a previously antiquated sector and allowing anyone to invest in better buy to let.”