http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticke...e-535356.html?tickers=fnm,fre,xhb,kbh,tol,len At least that's what they're telling the New York Times: âThere is no iron law that real estate must appreciate,â said Stan Humphries, chief economist for the real estate site Zillow. âAll those theories advanced during the boom about why housing is special â that more people are choosing to spend more on housing, that more people are moving to the coasts, that we were running out of usable land â didnât hold up.â Instead, Mr. Humphries and other economists say, housing values will only keep up with inflation. A home will return the money an owner puts in each month, but will not multiply the investment."
That guy is unable to acknowledge a deflationary scenario and still cannot articulate a bearish opinion. :eek:
It makes sense to buy a home and do a 15 year mortgage and add extra payments to pay it off early. So when you are retired you can live mortgage free. And of course avoiding buying when people raise housing prices to unsustainable levels. But anyone who bought in 1998 for example with a 15 year loan will be fine. But so many idiots went and took out 30 year loans and then borrowed to the hilt to live a "Fake Rich" life.
The same "experts" who were telling you to buy 3-4 years ago are now saying it's a horrible investment. What's new?
Owning doesn't seem to return your property taxes, condo fees, home owner association fees, insurance, repairs, that portion of interest that's not deductible because standard deduction has already been met, high real estate commissions, etc., etc.
Housing will be a good investment once its price hit rock bottom because there will be no other way but for its price to go up and thus earn a sizable profit. That's how some rich people became more richer, by buying properties which are way below its value while the economy is bad and then making a hefty profit when the economy picks up.