I turned on the telly today, and what did I see? Presenters, commentators, and so-called property experts moaning on about house prices falling in the UK and what a disaster it all is, and how it’s now so difficult for the first time buyer to get onto the housing market. It’s enough to make you want to commit property suicide (if there was such a thing).

Interestingly, they never seem to connect the two – after all, if house prices fall far enough, it then makes it easier for the first time buyer, right? Or have I missed something? But no, the bringers of doom and gloom continue to predict death and destruction for the housing market here, there, and everywhere. Let me tell you, these people have no clue what they’re talking about. I mean, let’s look back to the 1980’s for a minute, before we think about the future…

Do they remember the house price crash in that decade, when tens of thousands of homes were re-possessed? Now that was a price crash! And hands up who can remember the Notting Hill riots of 1976? At that time, who on earth would have bought a property in Notting Hill? Actually, agents couldn’t give property away. And yet here we are several years later (and after a Hollywood movie of the same name) and the average price of a swanky pad in Notting Hill is…well…astronomical. Agents are having to virtually fight off the celebrities elbowing each other to purchase a piece of that precious area of West London.

So what’s my point exactly? Well, in the long run, property is where the action is. Not gold, not shares, not copper, not hiding your cash under a mattress. Property is where it’s at, and always will be. Sure, it has its blips (like the 1980’s) but it eventually recovers. Why?

Because there’s only a finite amount of land available (unless of course the latest Mars landing leads to a sudden rush to the Red Planet – though I reckon the Martians may emerge from the far side of the planet and give us a good kicking first). Just think, the Duke of Westminster is said to be Britain’s wealthiest landlord. And why is that then? Is it because he always buys the cheap brand of baked beans when he goes shopping and puts the pennies saved into a piggy bank? Or is it something to do with the fact that the huge Grosvenor Estate he heads covers two areas in Belgravia and Mayfair, stretching as far as Oxford Street and Victoria station, with vast amounts of land in-between?  

All he has to do is sit at home and watch the cheques from the land rent pop through the post box. And who can blame him? So, looking to the future, property investment will always have its ups and downs, but in the long term it will always be on the up. Why otherwise would people be investing in Brazil for example? Do they just like dressing up in costumes for the annual carnival in Rio? Or is there a solid financial gain on the horizon which is clearly visible and much nearer than anyone had previously thought? Methinks it’s the latter.

And why are investors looking at Panama? Is it because they like Panama hats? Or because that nation is now the second largest financial centre in the world behind Switzerland, accommodating no less than 150 banks from 35 countries?

So don’t believe everything you see on the square box in your living room. Property investment is still a safe bet, almost anywhere in the world. Sometimes you just have to look back in time, in order to look to the future.