[SoftTalker]

Then they are renting something they can't afford, if ownership is their goal.

When I was saving for my first house I lived in a crappy little 1 bedroom apartment for a few years so that I could get a down payment together. I had the income to afford renting a larger apartment or a house in a nicer area but I would not have been able to save anything.

[ebiester]

When was this?

Have you paid attention to the percentage of wages required for a unit nationally? In your area?

[JumpCrisscross]

> Have you paid attention to the percentage of wages required for a unit nationally? In your area?

Roommates.

[ebiester]

I too had roommates coming up. People today have roommates coming up. That doesn't change the fact that even with roommates, the burden is disproportionately higher than it was for the last generation, particularly with housing.

Median household county in my area is about $55,000 a year. The median price of a house is $450,000. Assuming two people, the 50th percentile wage is equivalent of $14/hour. (This as an eyeball looks pretty close to a median wage.) Fair market rent for a 2 bedroom apartment (40th percentile) is 1500, or 32% of income.

If you let everyone get their own bedroom? For a below median two bedroom apartment, they will barely be able to afford the place.

A 4 bedroom place is $2500, so you're going to get about 100 dollar discount, but that all gets wiped out if one of your roommates leaves and you can't find a replacement. The more people sharing a space, the more risk there is.

It's tougher out there right now if you're not on an engineer's wage.

[SoftTalker]

If you are saving a down payment for a house you need to be spending far less than "32% of income" on your current rent. You need to move farther out, find a smaller/shittier place to live, be frugal with everything else, and/or increase your income. This has always been the case, unless you are earning well above average income.

[JumpCrisscross]

> doesn't change the fact that even with roommates, the burden is disproportionately higher than it was for the last generation, particularly with housing

Oh totally agree. Just pointing out that a straight comparison of wages to home prices doesn't dictate unaffordability.

[rangestransform]

each successive generation shouldn't have to endure more and more hardship to achieve the same standard of living, especially if it's due to previous generations imposing regulatory barriers

[duped]

That's a very different situation than the one you initially replied to. It's also not something everyone can do.