One of my clients forwarded me a great article from the Wall Street Journal that you might have interest in reading....  Real Estate: Finally a Good Investment?  (Smart Money / The Wall Street Journal)

The article has four premises for concluding that real estate might finally be a good investment, all of which seem reasonable to me:

1. "Everyone hates homes"  -  since nobody likes real estate right now, it means that those who are bold enough to buy will have great opportunities.
     
   
2. "Smart people are buying real estate" - John Paulson, Warren Buffett, and other highly respected people are advising the merits of buying.
     
   
3. "Real estate performs well during inflation" - housing performs well in times of inflation, and many predict that those times will be coming again soon.
      
   
4. "Demand may be coming back" - several national indicators suggest that housing supply trends are starting to return to more normal levels.
   

The main caveat that the author provides is that this all depends on jobs.  The good news for the Central Shenandoah Valley is that we have fared quite well over the last few years from an employment perspective.

Click here to take a quick read --- and let me know what you think.