Factually incorrect. Median income in 1965 (in 1965 dollars) was just about $7000 a year. An average three bedroom home in the same time period sold for about $7000 to $15,000 in good neighborhoods.
In other words, the average home cost one to two years annual salary.
Median income today is $51,000 dollars. Average home price is $170,000 to $250,000 dollars in good neighborhoods. In other words, the average home today costs the equivalent of three and a half to five years' salary!
The only reason more people own homes today then back in 1965 is that credit is easier to obtain today, and both spouses work, but our real standard of living (hours we have to work to buy things) is actually going down in many areas. We just don't realize it because it's so easy to put it on the card and finance it over time.
Do some more digging... get rid of new construction McMansions from those numbers and you find a true median. Trust me there are homes for sale in nearly all markets of the country for 1 to 2 years of annual income. There are pockets of insanity like DC, Cali etc.. but most of the country doesn't fit this category. in 1965 you didn't buy a house that was 4 to 5 times your annual income with zero down on an ARM... Trust me on this. Folks are debting thesmelves into failure going out and buying beyond their means and not willing to wait for it. yes some markets are insane, I won't deny it, but they are the exception not the rule. There are pleanty (MOST) of markets where 1 to 2 times the median household income can buy you a house in a decent neighborhood.
There's also more stuff to buy. Back in 1965, there weren't nearly as many gadgets. There will still many homes that didn't even have a television.
A little misleading. The median home price is biased by the cost of "new" construction which I agree is increasingly out of reach for average wage earners. But that new construction price is caused by developers being forced to shun the lower half of the housing market due to the high costs of permitting in many localities. Few builders want to touch any single family units under $300,000 even in areas with relatively low housing costs. They were forced out of the "Levittown" model by government medling.
But in my area, I can take you to many perfectly fine 25 year old, 3 bedroom homes in good, safe areas with good schools that can be had for much less than $150,000.