As a long-term investment strategy, few consumers were willing to touch real estate during the downturn, but new research suggests that has changed.

Back in 2011, few people wanted to touch real estate with a 20-foot pole – what a difference three years can make!

According to the latest Gallup poll of American consumer investment preferences, 30 percent of consumers think that real estate is the best long-term investment, up from just 19 percent three years ago; in case your math is rusty, that’s an increase in sentiment of 57 percent, and real estate is once again America’s favorite long-term investment.

Check out our graph below for a broader picture on real estate’s fall and rise as a long-term investment: