After nearly 20 years in the real estate industry, I have seen some fundamental changes in the way real estate ownership is viewed. While it has usually been seen as a long term investment, there have been times it was not. Let's look back at some of the things that have been said by media sources:

1947: Times Magazine, December 1, 1947 "The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau & there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline."

1948: Science Digest, April "Houses cost to much for the mass market. Today's average price is around $8,000...out of reach for two-thirds of all buyers."

1969: Business Week, Sept. 4 "The goal of owning a home seems to be getting beyond the reach of more & more Americans. The typical house today costs $28,000."

1977: Nations Business, June "The median price of a home today is approaching $50,000...Housing experts predict that in the future price rises won't be that great."

1980: John Wesley English & Gray Emerson Cardiff, The Coming Real Estate Crash "In California for example, it is not unusual to find families of average means buying $100,000 houses..I'm confident prices have passed their peak."

1985: Miami Herald, Oct. 25 "If you're looking to buy, be careful. Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore.

1986: Money "Most economists agree...[a home] will become little more than a rood & a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was through most of the 1980's."

1993: Los Angeles Times, Jan. 31 "We're starting to go back to a time when you bought a home not for its potential moneymaking abilities, but rather as a nestling spot.:

1993: Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Nov. "Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment."

1996: San Francisco Examiner, Nov. 17 "A home is where the bad investment is."

2000: Everything You Knew About Money Is Wrong "Your house is a roof over your head. It is not an investment."

OK, the real estate I sold in late 1999 & early 2000 is now selling for twice what it sold for then. So over an 8 or 9 year period the value doubled. Have those properties come down from their peak? You Bet! However for long term wealth, real estate is a great investment!