Home ownership isn't realistic in every market, especially ones in which there's such huge demand. The easy answer to this is living somewhere with low real estate costs (e.g. the Midwest US) instead of massively over-saturated markets.
The #1 reason why in-demand markets are that way is jobs. Moving out of these areas is not an easy answer.
Part of me would love to move back to KY where I'm from, but where would I work? That's the reason I left in the first place, no good jobs.
Salary seldom keeps up with real estate costs. The real estate cost difference can be a factor of 10, but you won't see that difference for salary.
Lots of low-cost areas will specialize in an industry. You shouldn't expect to pick a random low-cost area and find the industry you want, but the industry you want is probably in at least one low-cost area. Find that area, move there, and do well in life.