Oh I agree. My daughter and her husband live in Georgia so housing prices are reasonable. They have selected a nice community but not a rich one. They are getting bang for the buck. They chose to go to a state school to keep costs down. They both have full time jobs. He is an IT manager and she an ICU nurse.
They chose to stay in Heorhia rather than go to California where she grew up precisely because of cost of living. That and they both love Georgia. She has friends who left California in order to be able to buy a home.
There are good ones out there but not all are
Cost of living in the south is great, although starter home prices and rents are going up a lot. Which is good for me as I own a few starter homes as rentals.