Here’s Why House Prices Are So Expensive — It’s Not the Reason You Think

Homes used to be affordable, here is the real reason why they increasingly aren’t

David Graham
The Knowledge of Freedom

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Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Any person who has desired to purchase a home will attest that doing so is becoming increasingly difficult.

The question is, why?

It’s complex is the answer. To explain, firstly, if you look at the data, it would seem that the older generations have not per se had it better.

For example, in the US, for 2023, the average property has cost 7–9 times the median national wage, yet in 1947, the average property cost 15 times the median national wage.

Yes, 15 times, which is a lot more than now, and it only started decreasing in the 1960s off the back of a property boom. Even crazier, the most affordable they have been came in the 1990s, and then in the 2010s, as the below graph shows.

Averages worked out using the median. Source: longtermtrends.net

Yep, that means — at least in the US — present generations have seemingly actually had it better than older — at least on average i.e. ignoring the spike caused by the 2008 financial crisis and the present covid and…

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David Graham
The Knowledge of Freedom

Due to injury I write using voice dictation software. Lover of psychology, science, humour, history, fiction & self-improvement. https://linktr.ee/DavidGraham86