ever since the markets came about some 150 years ago they have...

ever since the markets came about some 150 years ago they have over time always gone up, property in general is a safe bet and for the long term will always be a good investment.

But short time, or even medium term such as the next 5 years could see it be poor investment with better alternatives, and within this rocky period we could see the wind up of a number of property companies.

Stimulus can't keep going forever, it will just drive inflation, and I would expect a number of home owners to lose their homes over the coming years as interest rates are increased and stimulus is withdrawn.

I have often seen commercial and residential property as linked, such as large investment trusts owning rentable apartments, and this is one of the very big problems now facing a number of commercial property companies in the US.

In Australia we are propped up by the massive exporting of commodities to China. If the US commercial property market drops, on top of the expected 3.5 million forclosers this year in the US it will drive prices down, it will also have a even bigger affect on China's export markets and its direct foreign investment, driving down demand for our commodities which are currently said to already be over stocked in China.

The knock on affect is a slow down in Australia, I don't even think we dodged a recession, I think because stimulus and first home owners grants were made available it propped up GDP.

I would think that pulling out now and re-investing when the next market crash/correction happens is the safer bet. The current value of stock is still well below 2007 values and its now floundering around.

As of 1pm today the Chinese stock market has already dropped 2.7% and I would expect as weak demand from the US continues for this market to keep dropping.