It’s a bifurcated market.
Items required to live: food, shelter, etc have and are seeing price increases - look at the grocery ads and bills for proof, if the price isn’t up then the size is down.
Items not required to live are seeing deflation as you indicate as people are less able to afford things and limit their purchases to a very select set of items.
You may be seeing increases but I don't know what you're looking at. This is what I see when I look at prices:
| Year | 2014 | 2015 | Change |
| 24 Pack Coke | $7.18 | $5.98 | -$1.20 |
| 5 Lb Bag Flour | $1.98 | $1.46 | -$0.52 |
| Chicken Soup | $1.35 | $1.34 | -$0.01 |
| Frozen Pizza | $2.98 | $2.50 | -$0.48 |
| Gallon Gas | $2.75 | $2.21 | -$0.54 |
| KW Hour Elec | 12.72 | 12 | -$0.72 |
| Lb Bacon | $5.48 | $5.24 | -$0.24 |
| Lb Green Grapes | $1.98 | $1.48 | -$0.50 |
| Lb Ground Beef | $5.98 | $5.26 | -$0.72 |
| Lb TasteLikeButter | $2.88 | $2.88 | $0.00 |
| Lg Cornflakes | $2.98 | $2.93 | -$0.05 |
| Loaf Bread | $1.98 | $1.98 | $0.00 |
| New House Buy | $373,500 | $364,100 | -$9,400.00 |
| Tide Soap Powder | $17.97 | $11.76 | -$6.21 |
| Toilet Paper | $3.98 | $3.98 | $0.00 |
I think you nailed it. What we have is lower costs and a higher standard of living for those with high incomes and the reverse of that for people who have working class incomes while more and more are supported by redistribution. I started telling my wife many years ago that the trend was toward lower prices for luxuries while the cost of necessities was going ever higher.
Very troubling to me is the way that houses are selling around me at very low prices while rents are higher than I ever imagined I would see.