Chicago - For all the doom and gloom about the US housing market, it still generally pays to own a home.
That might be a tough case to make right now to the 16 million homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth. But history suggests the American Dream is a pretty safe bet.
Homes have appreciated by an average of 4% a year since World War II. They act as hedges against inflation and bestow significant tax benefits. Real estate is a leveraged investment; a 10% down payment produces a 1 000% return if the price of a home merely doubles.
Plus there are intangibles: Owning a home provides a sense of independence, security and community. And you get to live in your investment. You can't do that with a stock.
Of course, historical trends don't pay the mortgage. People who wade in and out of the housing market too often, or who buy at the wrong time or price and need to sell quickly, can get burned.
But if you own for a decade or more, price appreciation usually overcomes even bad slumps.
Tony and Liz Iacobelli, who are far under water on the home they bought in the Phoenix suburb of Buckeye three years ago, aren't panicking. They owe about $177 000 on their mortgage on a house worth only $132 000, which is about 40% of what they paid.
"Houses generally go up in price, and this one will again, too," says Tony, 51, a retired New York City policeman.
Several booms and busts have occurred in the modern era of housing, which began when 30-year loans became widely available after World War II. This bust has been severe: Nationally, home prices are down an average 30% from their peak in 2006.
The collapse of the housing market may have put an end to the notion of using a home as a speculative investment akin to a hot stock. And that may not be a bad thing, economists say.
"People should recognise that value comes from a lot of other things besides a possible return on the investment," says Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.
Economists say home prices have risen by about half a percent a year above inflation, or roughly 4%, since the 1940s. That number, which is based on the median price of homes sold each year, was inflated a little by baby boomers starting families and building bigger houses. Since the National Association of Realtors began compiling statistics in 1968, the median sales price has climbed 6% annually, from $20 100 that year to $195 200 this past August.
In the late 1990s, home values started growing like stocks. For the next five years, they appreciated at 8% to 9% a year, or about 5 percentage points ahead of inflation.
You won't find many sceptics among people who bought homes in the '90s and still live in them. Their homes may be worth tens of thousands of dollars less than at the peak, but they're still frequently worth twice what the buyers paid.
US home buyer beware, however: Price declines do occur with some regularity. Besides the 30% price meltdown of the last three years, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 10 cities shows four declines lasting six months or more since 1990. The declines averaged 3%.
And whether large or small, a drop can be followed by several years of flat prices. After the 1990-1991 recession ended a housing boom, prices didn't start increasing nationally until 1997. So homeowners who buy at the wrong time can go years without gains.
The hefty costs of homeownership also can work against people who aren't committed to settling in for a while. Transaction costs - home inspections, sales commission, fees, transfer taxes - run thousands of dollars every time you buy or sell.
Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist and co-inventor of the Case-Shiller index, says he expects home prices to be roughly flat for five years.
Yet housing has proved a good investment if you stick with it. And with prices already having fallen so far, buying now could make it an even better one.
- AP