In 2019, a typical family could afford a typical house. That is no longer true.

Seven years ago, a family earning the median household income in this country could buy a median-priced home and have $11,700 of breathing room. Today that same family comes up $22,197 short. Home prices set a fresh record this summer, and mortgage rates are sitting well above where they were in 2019. So the sticker price went up, the financing cost went up, and wages didn’t keep pace. Your kids aren’t imagining it. The math simply doesn’t work anymore.