So sorry if you thought this post was about the title. It's more a question, and how to achieve such a thing.
I grew up on about over an acre of land. We had an orchard in the back of our yard, apples mostly. I yearn for the days of my youth. I make a good living, by most standards, I'm above average. So why can I not buy a house like in my youth? The divide seems so very large. By most measures I was in poverty in my youth. Yet I cannot even afford that lifestyle. Why is that? Why is housing so damn expensive?
I saw a video on here just a couple days ago that put the debt/inflation thing into perspective. I think they used 1960 prices/income vs today. Average house in 1960 cost $12,500 and average household income was around $7000 per year - meaning your house cost a little less than 2 years worth of income. Now: Average household income is around $50,000 per year but average home price is around $450,000, meaning it takes around 9 years worth of income to pay for the average house. The breakdown for vehicles was way worse too.
That is absolutely crazy. But I can totally believe it. I think my childhood house was around $150K.. quite expensive for the time, but compared to now, an absolute pittance!