1947: "The prices of houses semm to have reached a plateau and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline. " -Times Magazine
1948: "Houses cost too much for the mass market. Today's average price ($8,000) is out of reach for 2/3's of all buyers." -Science Digest
1969: "The goal of owning a homes seems to be beyond the reach for most americans ($28,000). -Business Week
1981: "The era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close." -Money Magazine
1985: "If you are looking to buy, be careful. Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore." -Miami Herald
1986: "Most econonmists afree...a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was." -Money Magazine
1993: "We're starting to go back to the time when you bought a home not for it's potential money-making abilities, but rather as a nesting spot." -Los Angeles Times (note that 1993 was the absolute low-point for real estate values in Los Angeles. Prices have sky-rocketed since.)
1993: "Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment." -Kiplinger's Personal Financial Magazine
1996: "A home is where the bad incestment is." -SF Examiner
So what does this mean? Because real estate is cyclical it can never be a bad investment.
