Is housing really that expensive? When you price out a loan on a starter house it really ain't that bad. I'm a recent first time homebuyer and I don't understand why people think they aren't affordable. There were plenty of cheaper homes that I looked at and even with rates at their highest would be cheaper than my rent.

Do people expect a palace? Are there more unmarried people today who can't afford it alone?

Based on your lower comment, Rhode Island.

Median family income $87k

Cost-of-living ~$36k excluding housing

With your example of a $350K home, someone making the median (presumably not 20-30 year olds but more like 40-45 year olds...) they could save up the $70k down payment in under 2 years.

P & I payment of ~$2k / month. Maybe $1k more for escrow of taxes and insurance.

So $72k total cost of living on $87k, assuming you've made it to median income.

Of course, if you're making less than $72k, buying a $350k house would simply be... untenable.

Also, based on rough guideline of "30% of income on housing", you'd definitely want to keep your mortgage under $2200 / month.

Census link indicates median home values are closer to $404K though, too.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/RI/LFE046224

https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ri

Housing for the boomers used to cost 3x the median salary. Now it's more like 6x the median salary. These are nationwide numbers. Wage growth isn't keeping up to pace with housing prices

Sure people can just move to a remote dying town and get a house for super cheap, but turns out people want to live within a reasonable distance to jobs.

In general the “housing is too expensive” people mean “I looked at every available house in both San Francisco and New York City, and didn’t find anything cheap!”

How much cost do you consider a first time home as costing?