Yale economist Robert Shiller - who is famous for his work on speculative bubbles and housing markets - was just awarded a Nobel Prize in Economics.
By way of his Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, he has argued that from 1890 to 2012 home price appreciation in the US (in real terms) has been basically zero. It has been flat:
As a result, he’s been very critical of the notion that homes should even be thought of as an investment. In this interview, he says the following: