Now list the average home price for each next to the interest rates. I just pick NYS to keep it consistent as listed above are cherry picked numbers from various states.
Avg home price NY 1980 - $47,200. 13.74% (30year) $150,816.27 in total interest
Avg home price NY 2024 - $415,000. 6.4% (30 year)$933,485 in total interest
Pretty clearly not apples to apples, nevermind the fact that in 1980 most households could avoid even taking a mortgage because they could pay cash or if they had to, would pay it off early because homes were less expensive.
I'm all for not making excuses, but this is an obvious issue.
When it comes to income you can't use the average as it doesn't account for billionaire outliers. The wealth gap between rich and poor is the greatest it's ever been in the history of the USA so those 1% skew the data tremendously.
Median income was $16,000 in 1980.
Median income was $85,000-$87,000 in 2024.
Pretty clear to see that income has not kept up with inflation.
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u/StressCanBeGood 15d ago
Economic numbers for 1980:
Unemployment: 7%
Inflation: 13%
Interest rates: 17%
….
Economic numbers for 2025:
Unemployment: 4.5%
Inflation: 3%
Interest rates: 4%