re: I think people need to accept that the housing window has closed

Almost 500 posts in this thread so just going to jump in.

I think the “K-shaped” economy is just showing itself here. There are plenty of people doing well from Millennials and Gen Z. The issue is that there is also a large bottom to those generations that are struggling.

Standard of living is better for everyone in the USA than it was 30 years ago…it just looks different than the American dream of old.

As a homeowner, I don’t get the fascination with it (and never have). Owning a home has no bearing or indication on my success in life.

Headline from today:

The U.S. housing market just hit the most unaffordable level in recorded history and the data behind that headline is worse than most people realize.

According to the St. Louis Fed, Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and Bankrate's 2026 analysis, we have now officially surpassed the affordability crisis of the 2006 housing bubble.

The inflation-adjusted Case-Shiller Index confirms it. We're not approaching the bubble peak. We've blown past it.

Here's what the actual numbers look like right now:

- More than 75% of U.S. homes for sale are unaffordable to the typical American household
- The median U.S. household earns roughly $80,000 a year
- You need approximately $113,000 in annual income to afford a median-priced home at current rates
- That gap, $33,000, is the largest income-to-home-price deficit in American history
- Median home prices have increased 217% since 2000 while household incomes grew just 153%
- The number of homes affordable to households earning $75,000 or less has dropped 60% since 2019
- 11 million extremely low-income renters are competing for just 3.8 million affordable available units
- Dave Ramsey called it "the most unrealistic real estate market in 100 years"

And here's the trap nobody talks about openly.

Homeowners who locked in 3% mortgages during the pandemic can't afford to sell. Moving up means giving up a rate that no longer exists and taking on a new loan in the sixes or sevens. So instead of selling they're becoming accidental landlords, renting their old homes out and freezing inventory for everyone trying to buy.

The market isn't just unaffordable. It's LOCKED. Sellers who can't sell. Buyers who can't buy. Renters who can't save fast enough to bridge the gap. And a construction pipeline that isn't moving fast enough to matter at scale.

No, no, no.

The St. Louis Fed, Harvard, and Bankrate are all just making stuff up.

It was WAY worse in the 1970s, where existing homes cost the equivalent of $150k average and new homes cost the equivalent of $250k average because of the interest rate.

Everyone would take today’s prices over the interest rates of the 1970s, obviously!

Harrumph!

- The OT

My two kids (in their early 40’s) did fine. They both have homes valued around 2 million.

First time homeowners have plenty of loan options. 3.5% down payment is fine.

Also, most recent college grads should be renting and not owning a home. The optionality of moving to new cities and maximizing professional opportunities is part of the game in your twenties when you aren’t tied down.

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My two kids (in their early 40’s) did fine. They both have homes valued around 2 million.

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I'm very clearly not talking about them.

I'm talking about your kids' kids (if they have any). Possibly even their kids' kids.

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What is ignorant is ignoring that we are in a real estate bubble from 2022.


Prices have been rising since 2008. Hell of a “bubble”

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2 things

1) 2008 was a bubble bursting. Exactly my point that real estate always goes in cycles.

2) 2010 to 2019 had typical real estate appreciation. It isnt a bubble because it is typical inflationary (traditional/historical) effects on the US housing economy.

Just like 2023 to 2026 is typical/traditional growth. The bubble literally was 2022 when some areas had a 25% spike in prices.

I feel sorry for the down voter. I guess he/she only wish they had kids like mine. Hey down voter I suspect you have a broken home.

That makes zero sense.