Some Perspective on “Doom and Gloom” in Real Estate

Naysayers are nothing new when it comes to real estate. Now a Scottsdale, AZ RE/MAX agent has compiled some of the best of the worst real estate market predictions.  I offer them here for your mid-week entertainment.

These comments mirror the frequent "fear factor" news we hear almost daily in Flagstaff and elsewhere. The good news is that each and every short-term decline in real estate has been temporary and has been followed by long-term price appreciation. Here we go:

"The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline."
- Time magazine, 1947

"Houses cost too much for the mass market. Today's average price is around $8,000 - out of the reach for two-thirds of all buyers."
- Science Digest, 1948 (National real estate values have appreciated 2,650 percent since 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 about $28,000."
- Business Week, 1969 (National real estate values have appreciated 685 percent since 1969.)

"You might well be suspicious of 'common wisdom' that tells you, 'Don't wait, buy now - continuing inflation will force home prices and rents higher and higher.'"
- NEA Journal, 1970

"The median price of a home today is approaching $50,000. Housing experts predict price rises in the future won't be that great."
- Nations Business, 1977 (National real estate values have appreciated 340 percent since 1977)

"The era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close."
- Money magazine, 1981

"The golden-age of risk-free run-ups in home prices is gone."
- Money magazine, 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 magazine, 1986

"Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment."
- Kiplinger's Personal Financial magazine, 1993 (my Flagstaff land investment of 1993 has tripled in value)

"A home is where the bad investment is."
- San Francisco Examiner, 1996 (National real estate values have appreciated 88 percent since 1996)

"Home prices experience historic drop."
- CNNMoney.com, 2007 .....

Thanks to Terry Forsberg, RE/MAX Fine Properties, Scottsdale, AZ.
 
Source: RE/MAX Times Online 4/28/08 – available only to RE/MAX affiliates.