[justin_hancock]

The one thing seems to have been omitted is housing costs? I am in the UK and housing costs have risen very sharply thus eliminating any other reductions on pricing. This is one area the current generation is much worse off, rents are high, and purchase prices even higher. My parents with a single relatively low income could afford a house, my sibling and his partner with two reasonable incomes can't afford a one bedroom apartment.

Some parts of the UK do have cheaper housing but with good reason, low levels of employment.

Interested to hear the US and wider perspectives.

[hnal943]

In the US, housing values have crashed since the bubble burst in early 2007. Americans have a bigger problem securing mortgages than they do finding an affordable home.