*This is a re-post of an article I had previously posted, but due to some technical issues in transferring fromTypePad to WordPress I had to delete it and re-post it.

Courtesy of Sue Botelho

Tracking the Track Record

What the ‘Experts’ Say about Housing Prices

“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 out of reach for two-thirds of all buyers.”

- Science Digest 1948 (average price at the time: $8,000)

“The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more and more Americans.”

-Business Week 1969 (average price at the time: $28,000)

“The era of easy profits in real estate may be drawing to a close.”

-Money Magazine 1981

“If you are looking to buy, be careful.  Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore.”

-Miami Herald 1985

“Most economists agree…a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was…”

-Money Magazine 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 1993

Note that 1993 was the absolute low-point for real estate values in Los Angeles.

Prices have sky-rocketed since.

“Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment.”

-Kiplinger’s Personal Financial Magazine 1993

“A home is where the bad investment is.”

-San Francisco Examiner 1996