[whattajoke]

Housing prices will not recover their value in real terms for at least 70 years, if ever.

That's a bold statement. While this may be true is some parts of the country, it's not at all in others. Be smart. Buy smart. Stay smart. I bought my house in 2005 ($5K above list) and am 100% confident that if I were to sell it tomorrow, I'd get at least 15% more than I paid.

[whattajoke]

Let’s all remember that for many, we don’t actually “own” our houses for 15-30 years and even then, we’re pretty much just squatting on government land in the end.

[oblomov]

>> I bought my house in 2005 ($5K above list) and am 100% confident that if I were to sell it tomorrow, I’d get at least 15% more than I paid.

I don’t doubt that you are correct, but a 15% gain from 2005 would still be a loss in real terms, especially when CPI book-cooking is taken into account.

There are undoubtedly local exceptions to this, but I think the era of positive real returns from housing real estate is over.