Mega Bull Markets —
When Homes Became
Investments
ou’re seeing people now for
“Ywhom
investing in real estate
is their life. It’s a move taken
straight from the old day
traders of the stock market.
— Fortune magazine,
June 6, 2005
With shelter being of primal concern to
all people, real estate is one of mankind’s oldest types of assets and has been
one of the most effective ways to amass
wealth and power in all civilizations (past
and present). Homeownership has always
been an important part of the “American
Dream” and continues to be the largest
asset owned, as well as the reason for
much of the high debt burden held by
most investors.
There have been five mega bull markets in housing that have exceeded five
years in duration since 1850. Their average annual return was 120% higher than
normal yearly appreciation (11% versus
5%). The 19-year run of the 1971–90 market marks the longest advance in housing
prices. After a br YY