Here’s where the experts
agree…
- “The
prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable
expectancy that prices will decline.”
( Time, December 1, 1947)
- “Houses
cost too much for the mass market.
Today’s average price is around $8,000—out of reach for two-thirds
of all buyers.” (Science Digest,
April, 1948)
- “If
you bought your house since the War…you have made your deal at the top of
the market… The days when you couldn’t lose on a home purchase are no
longer with us.” (House Beautiful, November, 1948)
- “The
goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and
more Americans. The typical new
house today costs $28,000.” (Business Week, September 4, 1969)
- “Be
suspicious of the ‘common wisdom’ that tells you to ‘Buy now…because
continuing inflation will force home prices and rents higher and
higher.’” (NEA Journal, December,1970)
- “The
median price of a home today is approaching $50,000….Housing experts
predict that in the future price rises won’t be that great.” (Nations
Business, June, 1977)
- “The
era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close.” (Money, January, 1981)
- “In
California… for example, it is not unusual to find families of average
means buying $100,000 houses…. I’m confident prices have passed their
peak.” (John Wesley English and
Gray Emerson Cardiff, The Coming
Real Estate Crash, 1980)
- “The
golden-age of risk-free run-ups in home prices is gone.” (Money, March 1985)
- “If
you’re looking to buy, be careful.
Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore.” (Miami
Herald, October 25, 1985)
- “Most
economists agree… [a home] will become little more than a roof and a tax
deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was through much of
the 1980s.” (Money, 1986)
- “We’re
starting to go back to the time when you bought a home not for its
potential money-making abilities, but rather as a nesting spot.” (Los
Angeles Times, January 31, 1993)
- “Financial
planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment.” (Kiplinger’s
Personal Financial Magazine, November 1993)
- “A
home is where the bad investment is.”
(San Francisco Examiner,
November 17, 1996)
- “Your
house is a roof over your head. It
is not an investment.” (Everything You Know About Money Is
Wrong, 2000)