ok so far as it goes (and i dare to postulate that your perpective may in fact be generic to all of the states), but i would guess that most people dont have enough cash to buy a home outright, even a fixer upper in the sticks. and even if one did find such a home it would be a three plus hour commute to one’s well paying job (iow, goodbye quality of life).
in silicon valley, they are now building up (no longer out), which means more condos and less ranch homes. more density. smaller units. less quality of life.
many cannot afford even that without two incomes. but two incomes usually requires marriage and marriage rates are at a historical low. income levels are (i believe) falling below inflation levels since the 1990s or prior. one can observe the trend that one income families owning ranch style homes were the rule and not the exception in the 1960s.
what happened? perhaps — government budgets, regulatory burdens, and the welfare state causing inflation, plus erosion of the concept of the nuclear family unit. (or else?)
Well, it boils down to what one considers quality.