Ask HN: Are housing prices going to go up or down?

Location location location.

The answer will be different in different areas of the same city! The answer will change if the politics of a region change. The answer will change if some disaster strikes a house (hope you are insured) The answer will change as the economy changes in the local area.

Long term expect it to match inflation - but it won't be even, so values might need to drop to match inflation.

From a long term perspective, real estate in Western urban areas has appreciated depending how you calculate something like 1 - 2% per year since the late 19th century. The short term trend varies wildly.

Historically, it's gone up, then down, then up some more, then maybe later, down. But then, probably somewhere down the road, up again.

Yes.