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Comment by karaterobot | Hacker News Reader

I don't agree. I made under $80k in household income when I bought my first home in 2014. This was in (well, just outside) Seattle, which was and remains one of the more expensive markets in the country. I saved up for a down payment; it took years. It wasn't my dream home, but it allowed me to build equity and continue saving for the one that was. I am not ready to say "kids these days want everything handed to them," but I will say that if you can't commit to a decade-long, multi-step process, then it may seem impossible, when it's just rather hard.

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It isn't 2014 anymore and rents have doubled around here since then, cost of living has gone way up, while wages have stayed relatively stagnant.

This. My house has more than doubled since 2014. There's a huge gap between those who can afford a $300k house and those who can afford an $800K house.

Doubled if you're lucky. I checked the price history on the condo I bought last year. It has doubled in price since the pandemic started and more like tripled since 2014. Of course I'm living in a booming area but my salary sure hasn't increased that quickly.

The traditional rule for a mortgage was 20% down and the house itself was no more than 2.5 times salary.

Where I live, Boise, housing prices have shot up dramatically, over twice. Median house prices in Boise is $536k. So you would really need to make $214K/year to afford the mortgage under the old rules. And nobody makes that kind of money here.

The old rules don't apply because the old interest rates were so very much higher.

The prices are based on the ability to repay based on the income - with lower interest rates the same income and service a much larger loan, hence the increased prices.

The world has changed, from very high rates to current very low rates, and seems like it might be changing back to middle rates.

I think that's what the mortgage lenders of today want you to believe since they have cheap cash available through the fed. As long as house prices continue to skyrocket, they could still make money on the foreclosure.

It's flat out impossible to buy a house or even condo on that kind of salary in southern Ontario without significant outside financial assistance. I bought my condo in Oct 2021. Six months later it has appreciated in value by $200,000 judging by what other units in this building are going for. You simply can't save money fast enough. Housing prices in general have more than doubled around here.

You got lucky and bought when it was cheap. Don't act like anyone can do what you did.

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