Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
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http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/27/...ed-country-is/
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
But how much did a typical starter home cost back then? And how have housing prices compared to the rate of inflation over the last 30 years?
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Some things you fail to understand, based on this comment, are that the idea of a starter home, how many people can afford one, at what age, and most importantly the size and quality of a starter home, have all changed substantially.
In the 70s, buying a home was still a luxury - a dream to aspire to. It was rare for people in their 20s.
And it was usually rare until a family had children - in other words, the average occupancy per household was higher.
Finally, the typical home was much smaller. A 2,000 sf home was
very large - upper middle class only - even into the 80s.
Now, it is far more common for 20-somethings - alone or couples, without kids - to purchase homes substantially larger than 2,000 sf, just for themselves.
And let's not even talk about what's inside the home, like dishwashers, granite countertops etc, which simply were not affordable a generation ago (my first house had 2 appliances - a fridge and a stove).
So when you say a home costs more, first you have to understand what you are talking about - you are
getting substantially more.
It's the same with cars. In the 70s and 80s, a young person was proud to own a 10 or 15 year old beater than leaked oil.
Today, buying a car means new or virtually new. It means 10 air bags, heated seats, navigation, tires that virtually never go flat, etc
You can't compare prices when the product is incomparable.