• glimse@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    That just adds to my point? It doesn’t matter why it happened, housing is significantly more expensive compared to income. But since you brought it up, let’s do the math.

    $15,000 average salary, single income, $37,000 house. That’s about 30 months salary.

    $55,000 average salary, dual income ($110,000), $420,000 house. That’s 45 months salary. With both people working.

    So…yeah, seems like “the basics” are a lot harder to achieve nowadays than they were in the 80s.

    • zout@fedia.io
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      1 day ago

      I really wouldn’t know if that last statement is true. We were only discussing housing, so not all of the basics. Also, like I said earlier, interest rates on mortgages were higher in the past. I would also consider this when comparing, because the interest can be more than total debt.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
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        24 hours ago

        Interest rates peaked in '81 at 18% and yes that brings it closer to today’s % of income…but it plummeted within a few years.

        And housing/mortgage stuff isn’t the only part in this equation - the bottom 90% of the country has been getting significantly less for their labor since Reagan. Money is hoarded and wages have not kept up with inflation