In May 2007, Dr. Stephen Fuller, the oft-quoted director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, told WTOP’s Adam Tuss that the Washington region’s housing market was “tipping in favor of the sellers.” If current trends continued, Fuller predicted, local home prices would double every 10 years. By 2057, the average rambler or colonial would be worth $14 million.

But even as Fuller spoke, housing prices had already begun a steep decline from their 2006 peak. The following year, Case-Shiller reported the largest home price drop in its history. By February 2012, home prices had climbed back to their 2002 levels, but most people who bought homes at inflated 2007 prices have still not recouped their losses. And few homeowners are counting on a $14 million future windfall to justify putting in a swimming pool today.