property is not always stable - it's cyclical - meaning that is is subject to price fluctuations as most commodities are. While some areas may experience growth, others will be in decline. The price of real estate is based on supply and demand and sometimes things like businesses shutting down can effect the local economy and force prices down. Also - rising prices and interest rates can also lead to a decline in demand as prices become out of line with profit expectations and become too expensive to make any financial sense. Such a drop in demand can push property prices back down until it is so cheap that investors start coming out of the woodworks and snapping them up again - increasing demand and pushing prices back up - a vicious cycle of supply and demand. So the market is more cyclical than stable. It might move slower than other financial instruments - but there is no doubt that real estate has its ups and downs. Buy it at the wrong time and you could lose all your equity - by contrast, get it at the right time and you could hit the jackpot.