Tracking the Track Record
What the ‘Experts’ Say about Housing Prices
I know, I know, we all read the newspapers and see on the news that real estate is in a tailspin from which recovery is perhaps years away! Do you believe everything you read in the paper? Probably not. So why believe this dribble. This theme of news is inaccurate and insidious. It makes assumptions and applies those with a broad brush stroke to every area of the country.
We have more Bend Oregon homes for sale than we have previously had at one time in inventory, but maybe only by about 10 percent. If you look at the MLS listings in Bend Oregon, you will see an excellent choice of homes and land.
With over 50 families moving to our area each month, the inventory is healthy, but many of those new residents are afraid to buy because of what they see and read. The Northwest is still a healthy section of the country for real estate. So those people sit on the fence and watch interest rates creep up (they have risen over a percent in the past six weeks to about 6 ¼ percent today) while they live somewhere they don’t like and watch the homes they do love sell to other buyers. Does that make sense? I don’t think so!
And if you are looking for Central Oregon ranches and farms, the choices are even greater! You can access these listings from my website. If you have any questions or can’t find just that perfect property, give me a call or email me.
To put the negative news in context, check out the following quotes from the past decades. IT IS THE BEST BUYERS’ MARKET IN OVER 20 YEARS IN THE CENTRAL OREGON MARKETPLACE! Let me help you make it happen, whether for investment, a second home or your primary residence as you enjoy the paradise that is our beautiful area.
“The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is a 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 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 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 low point
For real estate values in Los Angeles.
“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
Average price of a home in San Francisco in 96: $250,000
Ten Years later: $750,000