Historical (or Hysterical) Comments on Housing Values by the Financial Press
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