The National Association of Realtors has made available online a popular presentation by Chief Economist David Lereah on The Road to Recovery. <link opens a powerpoint file>
Lereah examines economic trends and predicts a soft landing for the real estate market, pointing to statistics that show the market to be stabilizing. An interesting chart shows year-on-year price appreciation since 2000. Note that these are national averages, but on the whole it appears that the market hasn't yet given back the supernormal gains of the last several years. 
Nevertheless, in some markets buying opportunities are appearing. It's particularly important in this environment for buy-and-hold investors to pay attention to the fundamentals. If prices take a dip will the cashflow that your new investment is generating carry you through the cycle? This is the fundamental question that EquityScout.com's real estate evaluation software is designed to help investors to answer.
