The naysayers and pessimists are out in full force with their doomsday proclamations that homes are no longer a solid investment. The New York Times printed this headline in August, “Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth, Analysts Say” and the September issue of Time Magazine has the following cover story: Rethinking Homeownership: Why Owning a Home May No Longer Make Economic Sense. Right now, people are reading these articles and thinking that they shouldn’t buy a home.

Historically, however, booms always follow busts and demand eventually catches up with supply. Add the basic human need for shelter, and the United States is in position for the inevitable — another housing boom.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen dismal predictions from credible news. Here are a few others:

“The prices of houses seem to have reached a plateau, and there is reasonable expectancy that prices will decline.”  — Time Magazine

“If you are looking to buy, be careful. Rising home values are not a sure thing anymore.” — Miami Herald

“Most economists agree … a home will become little more than a roof and a tax deduction, certainly not the lucrative investment it was.” — Money Magazine

“We’re starting to go back to the time when you bought a home not for its potential money-making abilities, but rather as a nesting spot.” — Los Angeles Times

“Financial planners agree that houses will continue to be a poor investment.” — Kiplinger’s Personal Financial Magazine

But wait, I forgot to mention the dates. Each of the above quotes was printed between 1947 and 1993. And following each, the markets recovered, and eventually, they boomed. That means they were all wrong. Demand caught up with supply and the economy improved. Those last two quotes came from 1993, the lowest point for real estate values in Los Angeles. I’d be willing to bet that more than a few people heeded that advice, decided not to buy a home in the L.A. area, and then missed out on one of the biggest housing booms in history. Prices in Los Angeles have skyrocketed since.

These predictions are based on emotions and fear rather than fact. Warren Buffett says, “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” That means that the time to buy is when the masses are freaked out and prices are low. History repeats itself. Land has been king for the past 2,000 years — starting with Solomon and going all the way to Warren Buffett.

My dad taught me that if you want to be the best at something, you should copy what the best do. So if you want to be wealthy and successful, you copy the top 10 percent. As one of the world’s richest people, Warren Buffett’s strategy seems to be working out all right for him. Those at the top are buying while land is cheap. Do you want to follow the advice of the media and the masses or do you want to follow the advice of the world’s richest people?

The same New York Times article quotes Stan Humphries, chief economist for the real estate site Zillow, as saying, “housing values will only keep up with inflation. A home will return the money an owner puts in each month, but will not multiply the investment.” He’s wrong. Demand will catch up with the surplus in supply and then the demand will outweigh the supply. We have yet to figure out a way to produce more land, but people still need places to live. It’s one of the few constants in this world. Plus, the population is growing with 4,317,119 babies reportedly born in 2007 (the most recent year available through census reports). That means that around 2027, there will be 4 million people entering the workforce and needing their own places to live. The census also reports an estimated 880,000 immigrants entering the country per year and a projected population increase to “392 million by 2050 — more than a 50 percent increase from the 1990 population size.”

In addition to the increase in population, there will always be people changing stages in life. In 2008, the U.S. census reported 54,536,000 people between the ages of 50 and 64. These folks are approaching retirement and many will want to downsize and/or move to active adult communities like The Villages in Florida, the largest/most successful retirement community in the nation. Growing families will want more space, newlyweds (the Center for Disease Control reports 2,162,000 marriages in 2008) will look for starter homes, and people relocating or getting new jobs/raises will need to adjust to their new situations. Add that to those entering the workforce from high school and college, and all the demand is bottling up. This puts us in position for another major boom.

Beyond the historical elements and the logic of supply versus demand, there is an emotional demand that drives people to buy homes. Besides the fact that shelter is a basic human need (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs puts it at the base — right there with food, air and sleep); buying a home is an important step in life improvement. A home may mean a better school district or lower stress in a marriage. Psychologists say that buying a home is the third most emotional thing people go through (following giving birth and getting married). Plus, owning a home is owning a piece of America, which has been at the core of the American dream since 1862’s Homestead Act. Homes are a sound financial investment, but if that alone doesn’t motivate people to buy, their emotions will.

People are bound to panic during busts. They’re bound to give in to their fears and market anxiety. But, as always, housing remains a solid investment — not just from the supply and demand standpoint, or the fact that history proves that booms always follow busts, but also because people are emotional and will do whatever it takes to provide for their families.

Jason Forrest is a professional sales trainer, coach and speaker specializing in new home sales. He is the author of Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40 Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. He can be reached at jason@shoreforrest.com and his website is www.jforrestgroup.com.