Bloomberg News reports a new survey says the number of people who think a new home is a safe investment dropped from 83 percent in 2003 to 64 percent at the end of last year.  The National Association of Realtors says historically homes have been a safer investment than equities, increasing in value an average of 4.2 percent each of the last 20 years.  The median price of a home fell 32 percent from 2006 to February 2011, greater than the 27 percent plunge in the five years following the Great Depression, according to real estate information specialist Zillow, Inc.  Michael Lea, finance professor at San Diego State University, says, “The magnitude of the housing crash caused permanent changes in the way some people view home ownership.  Even as the economy improves, there are some who will never buy a home because their confidence in real estate is gone.”