I Analyzed 40 Years of Home Buying Data and Here's What I Found

The Debate is ON and in this blog I’m digging into the Affordable Crisis at a deeper level! Stick with me as I respond to “A Really Long Comment” by @RiffleVFXportfolio.

I’m covering Generational Comparisons, Income & Raises, and Getting a Job.

Look, ultimately no matter what generation you are from, housing is and always has been one of our biggest budgetary expenses, and there are solutions to help buy a house, even in today's higher priced economy.

This is a Really Long Comment, so stick with me. I’ll break down and answer the sections that are key to the comments.

One thing to take note of as we go through this. These comments are generic one size fits all and on a national level.

Remember that real estate is hyper local. Every city, every neighborhood has different demographics and different economics.

It’s important that our local point of view is not skewed by National Media bias or the Social Media Echo Chamber that is shaping our national conversation.

Part 1 – Comparisons

@Riffle wrote: “But at least in my wife’s and my experience, my wife and I have 2 kids, she is a doctor and I am a stay at home dad. Her parents at our age were in an almost identical situation. However, my wife is making significantly more than they were relative to the time, but they were able to afford a much larger, much newer house in a much more desirable location. I know this is only anecdotal, but I feel like our situation is not an isolated one.”

Wow! That’s a lot to take in. First off, I hear you and unfortunately your story is not isolated. As I go through this, there are some significant differences between say, 1985 and Today in 2025 that we have to dig into to see how you all are NOT in an Identical Situation.

Several things about family dynamics, moving dynamics, technological advances, and even career dynamics are so different today than they were during the Back to the Future & Breakfast Club generations versus today.

Let’s get ito it…

I won’t go into all of the political and familial shifts in this video, but know that our world has shifted and changed along with culture as that has played a big part in housing costs today.

In 1985, the average home cost $100,825 while the average home costs $522,200 today nearly 4x over 40 years. In other videos, I’ve actually talked about home prices doubling every 15 years. Well, these statistics show that home prices doubled every 10 years during this period. Crazy huh?

In 1985 home interest rates were around 13% while today they are ONLY 6.5% and declining. They’ve been hovering around 6.75% most of 2025. Rates today are only ½ of what they were in 1985. That’s a good thing.

Payments assuming a 5% downpayment (conventional financing) were $1059 in 1985 vs. $3135 today which is a 3x increase.

Now interestingly enough, the actual % of income used for housing expenses has decreased 4.5% since 1985! That’s a different story than what the media is telling us. More importantly, it tells a different story than House Prices are Too High!

The REAL Problem with Affordabilty isn’t about the house price…

In your comment, you did not mention your debt burdens, and because you did mention your wife being a doctor, my assumption would be that you do carry some student loans. I’m also assuming you carry a car loan or two. Credit card debt?

This chart only goes back to 2003, however, you can see that student loans, credit cards, and auto loans have dramatically increased in the last 20+ years.

In 1985, consumer debt was not anywhere near as common as it is today. Consumer debt did not Consume personal income which made housing much more affordable to the individuals buying at that time.

Medical school is insanely expensive, I’ve known many clients over my 30 year career carrying medical school debt that is equal to a small house payment.

I might also assume that your parents may not have had that kind of debt when you were a kid.

Unfortunately, debt has become a way of life for so many Americans trying to get ahead.

In 1985, I was in 6th grade and my parents harped on me to save my money and avoid debt like the plague. Today, I see people borrowing excessively to “afford” the life they think they want only to end up in bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Affordability is more a product of Financial Literacy and Sound Financial responsibility at home, even at these higher prices.​

Part 2 of your question is “When it comes to raises, typically, across all fields in all generations, raises now do not even meet, let alone exceed inflation.”

Take a look at this historic Median Household chart from 1990 through 2022. That covers a 32 year period and gets us close to our 1985 period.

In 1990, the median household income was $63,830. Due to some economic hiccups like the early 90’s Savings & Loan Crisis, the Dotcom Crash, the Great Recession and the Covid Pandemic, incomes tooks some hits and also had some good recovery periods.

Ultimately, the 2022 Median household income was $80,610. That represents a 26.28% increase in income over that period, less than 1% increase annually.

These stats do support your comments about income not keeping up with inflation. I’ll get to Raises in just a minute…

You can also look at what has happened with Inflation since 1970. We witnessed a 40 year high in June of 2020 at 9.1%...If we listen to the media and echo chamber over the last 4.5 years, you might think Inflation has been high like this for decades.

In reality, Since the mid 1980’s inflation has held below 5% and in many cases under 3%. Yes, that is still higher than income from W-2 jobs.

So Let’s talk Raises…

Companies work to provide goods and services in exchange for a monetary exchange. With the revenue from their sales, they pay their employees which shows up in the ledger as payroll expense.

If revenue is down in any given year, it can affect how much a company can pay their employees through raises and bonuses. In down cycles like the
Recession and Covid, many companies took huge losses or even closed. It can take years to recover from down years which also affects raises.

Now, the media focuses on Huge multi-Billion dollar companies who can absord hits like that. Unfortunately, Small businesses make up over 99% of the businesses that employ the bulk of our labor force.

Small businesses have a harder time recovering during big economic events causing fewer raises.

This is yet another factor in the Affordability crisis we face these days.

So, how do you make more? For me, I went to work for myself in 2001 and I’ve been affected by the economic downturns and benefited from the upcycles more than if I had stayed in a salaried position.

Do I recommend this path for everyone? No, its not an easy road. I share these things because wealth is built in owning things and building your own dreams. When we go to work for others, we trade our dreams to help build theirs. You just have to know the difference and accept the consequences of YOUR choice in the matter.

Let’s shift to Jobs…

You talk about your dad’s ability to apply for jobs and get one while you’ve had a difficult time over the last 5-10 years while stating home prices started “skyrocketing astronomically”

First off, home prices have shown a steady increase from 1980 to present day with the cycle between 2020-2022 being excessive. It also shows a correction is currently happening. This is NOT skyrocketing or astronomical, although it did feel like it over the last five years. Hyper Sensationalism is dangerous, so let’s stay grounded with the facts.

Now then, getting a job has changed dramatically since the 1980’s to today. What changed?

• We used to network with business owners and talk with them when we applied for a job. Today, networking is done globally on LinkedIn and other Social Media platforms with thousands of strangers in thousands of locations.

• How we apply went from hand delivering our resumes or filling out applications in person in a local market to online applications after 2000.

• Competition has gone through the roof within the Digital marketplace. See business is being done globally, no longer locally due to technological advances in the internet.

Your dad’s job market and application process is not the same as yours. If you don’t have the right keywords and special boxes checked on your digital platform, the AI bots kick you out and no call backs. If you have anything “personal” on the global and very public social media platforms, you’re out. You dad never faced that kind of hiring situations when he switched jobs.

If you’re sending out ‘thousands of applications’ and not getting responses, it’s time to do something different and find a new approach. Your approach is not working for you, unfortunately.

This is a Massive Shift and AI is changing it even more these days. If you don’t keep up, finding work will be hard and continue to get harder.

So let’s close with this idea. I don’t know about where you are hearing that older generations had things so hard or they were victims. I actually see it that we kinda had things a little easier back then. Things were simpler.

Yeah, we had challenges. Every generation faces new challenges that the generation before them didn’t face which I think makes things a little harder since there are no examples to follow. It’s a lot of trial and error.

As a GEN X kid, I was a bridge kid between boomer tech and Millenial Tech. I live both sides of it making my perspective a little different.

At the end of the day, this is about affordability. Affordability is very Personal on a Micro-Economic level. Macro-Economics spread doom and gloom. What is affordable for me may not be affordable for others.

To get into homeownership, you have to get past the Macro-Economic conversations, clean up your personal Micro-Economy and jump in.

You have to find your path because it is a very different path than your parents.

I appreciate this dialogue and recognize that it is an extremely important National Conversation we need to have. Keep your comments coming.