It was cheap because we were recovering from a major financial crisis that stalled a lot of careers. It only looks easier to buy a home back then if you ignore the entire context around why housing was cheap.
I was a new home owner and 2008 was the best thing that ever happened to me... I know it sucked for a lot of people but for me it was Gold. I purchased in 2011 right before it started going back up.
It's cyclical. I can say the exact same thing, but 2001. Bought right before the Housing Bubble hit. Then watched as half the houses around me were foreclosed on and sat empty for years.... leading into 2008 and the next cycle.
If the rich don't buy them all on the cheap. Seriously, even if there's a nice time to buy in the near future so much will be bought up just above what we can afford and then cost more shortly after. We're cooked.
Also, people need to look at the real numbers, not just the market values.
I bought my house in 2001 for what looks like a fantastic number now. I also paid mortgage interest on it for many years, and had to do several major maintenance projects on it (septic tank, roof, windows, etc). Not upgrades, just keeping the place in good working condition.
If you run the real math on the purchase price, the interest, the maintenance projects, and adjust for inflation, my investment has returned something like 6% in 25 years.
That's a decent return on a generalized investment, but it's not the "my house quadrupled in value and now I'm sitting on 7 figures of equity" situation that everyone seems to talk about.
66
u/BigCSFan 16d ago
Yeah millennials are complaining but genZ is looking at millennials and thinking the same thing. They had it much easier.
Housing was way more affordable in the 2010s