Historically buying a home was a good "Long Term" investment. These past few years when real-estate became a Fad and started turning houses as a short term investment is when people and banks started getting in trouble.

There is even a show called "Flip this House" which played on the trend. I can't imagine anyone flipping houses in this market unless you buy up foreclosures but even then you'd have a hard time in this saturated market. Not only are there a lot of houses but you have less people who can qualify for a home loan.