Is real estate in the U.S. a good investment in 2019?

Editor's Comments:

My predictions on United States real estate have been very accurate over the last four decades. 

When I told everybody to get out of Hawaii real estate in 1982 after the Japanese had bought everything in sight they laughed at me. Two years later prices dropped 20 to 40%.

When I predicted, in my Bali News and Views newsletter in 2007 that American real estate was going to collapse because American housewives were having house selling parties instead of Tupperware parties they laughed at me again. A few years later prices were down as much is 70%.

Reader's question when I recommend they get back into American real estate in places like Las Vegas in 2009. They're not questioning me anymore after increases of 50 to 100%.

As the article below the questions "is real estate in the U.S. a good investment in 2019".

The answer is maybe. My acid test for any real estate market in the world is can I buy a two or three bedroom apartment and rent it out for positive cash flow? If not the market soon will end as it is in Sydney where I'm staying right now where prices I expect to drop 20 to 40% in the coming years.

The best time to buy real estate is not after it has gone up but after it's dropped. Especially in an area that has guaranteed increase in demand in the future such as Bali, Indonesia where prices  have dropped 20 to 50% since tap 2014 and have leveled off the last 6 to 12 months.

If you like to find out where and what to buy Bali drop me a note at info@bestasiarealestate.com or take a look at our properties that ARE ON SALE AT www.bestasiarealestate.com

Ali Boone, REI entrepreneur, BiggerPockets author, Rental Properties owner
Answered 5d ago


I think real estate is always a good investment, assuming you are buying a good property. 80% of properties don’t make good investments, regardless of what year it is or where we are in the real estate economy/cycle.

The question isn’t so much- is it a good investment- but rather, what would be a good investment in 2019? For instance, the first thing I look at is the fact that we are much closer to peak prices than crash prices. Because of that, investing in a property for appreciation potential might be severely un-wise. If you buy with cash flow in mind though, over appreciation, that is certainly an option for 2019.

I would say the biggest consideration really is—are you trying to invest for cash flow or appreciation? Well, at least on the rental properties front. If you want more details on the difference between those two methods, check out:

Investing for Cash Flow or Appreciation – What's the Difference? | Hipster Investments

But for things like flipping, that can always work if you do it right…especially when prices are so high so you should be able to get max price on the sale. But, can you get the distressed property cheap enough? I have no idea, I don’t flip to be able to say.

Yes, real estate is always a good option. But what to buy is the more pertinent question. There are so many options out there to pick from! Anyone who tells you a generic statement like “focus on multi-units” is leaving a lot of unsaid critical information out of the answer. Not much to go on with that.
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