50 Examples of Property

John Spacey, August 01, 2021

Property is value that has clearly defined ownership. This includes tangible property that has a physical presence and intangible property that is nonphysical. Property owned by an individual or organization is known as private property while that owned by a government is public property. The following are illustrative examples of property.

Aircraft	Appliances
Art	Books
Buildings	Business Inventory
Chemicals	Clothing
Computers	Copyrights
Crafts	Crops
Documents	Electronics
Energy Infrastructure	Facilities
Farm Equipment	Fixtures
Food	Furniture
Handbags	Industrial Equipment
Infrastructure	Jewelry
Land	Land Improvements
Licences	Machines
Medical Devices	Mobile Devices
Money	Musical Instruments
Parts	Patents
Personal Items (e.g. Cosmetics)	Precious Metals
Robots	Science Equipment
Securities	Ships & Boats
Shoes	Software
Spacecraft	Sports Equipment
Stocks	Supplies
Tools	Toys
Trademarks	Vehicles

Property vs Capital

Property is a broad term for anything with value that is owned. Capital is a more specific term that only applies to productive or potentially productive resources. In other words, capital could be used by a business to generate income whereas property can include things that are unlikely to generate income. For example, property can include jewelry that is valuable but this wouldn't be considered capital because jewelry usually doesn't generate income. If you were to start a business to rent out the jewelry, it would become capital.

Property vs Asset

Asset is another term for capital. Nonproductive property would only be considered an asset where it can quickly be converted to cash. For example, a gold bar would be an asset and property. However, a used pillow would be considered property but not an asset unless it was being used by a business such as a hotel to generate income.

Public vs Private

Public property is property owned by a government. Private property is owned by an individual or organization. In a communist society, all capital is owned by the state such that most property is owned by a single bureaucratic entity. In a capitalist society, there is strong support for property rights such that you are free to keep value that you have earned. In practice, capitalism usually provides limited income redistribution using taxation.