From skipping coffee runs to hosting dinner clubs, Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman has one message for Gen Z: getting your first home takes sacrifices—but it’s doable, even in today’s pricey market.
I agree that buying your first home takes some sacrifices. But the sacrifices even 20 years ago were significantly less than they are now, let alone 40 or more years ago. I would hope that someone in her position would understand that it’s not about saving $5 or $10 a day on Starbucks, or even buying a cheaper phone. The disparity between income and home price is just completely different.
Median household income in the US in 1980: $21000
Median home price: $47000 (2x)
Edit: $62000 (3x) is probably more accurate.
Median household income in the US in 2000: $42000
Median home price: $163000 (4x)
Median household income in the US in 2020: $67000
Median home price: $327000 (5x)
It doesn’t take a genius to see the discrepancy here. That’s a lot of fucking Starbucks coffees to not buy to make up the difference.
Note: I’m using US numbers because of the context.
Not disagreeing with the numbers but could you provide your source? I would like to use this next time my family says a house is cheap/good deal ($500k for 2b 2b in the sticks).
I agree that buying your first home takes some sacrifices. But the sacrifices even 20 years ago were significantly less than they are now, let alone 40 or more years ago. I would hope that someone in her position would understand that it’s not about saving $5 or $10 a day on Starbucks, or even buying a cheaper phone. The disparity between income and home price is just completely different.
Median household income in the US in 1980: $21000
Median home price:
$47000 (2x)Edit: $62000 (3x) is probably more accurate.
Median household income in the US in 2000: $42000
Median home price: $163000 (4x)
Median household income in the US in 2020: $67000
Median home price: $327000 (5x)
It doesn’t take a genius to see the discrepancy here. That’s a lot of fucking Starbucks coffees to not buy to make up the difference.
Note: I’m using US numbers because of the context.
Not disagreeing with the numbers but could you provide your source? I would like to use this next time my family says a house is cheap/good deal ($500k for 2b 2b in the sticks).
Found this. No idea if the same source as OP, but says federal reserve data
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/median-house-prices-vs-income-us/
Oh this is perfect. Thank you. I was just gathering numbers and had discrepancies, but this shows it perfectly.
Cool!
I did it really quick, and just looked up the numbers from searches. There might be some difference from different sources, but it’s in the ballpark.
That said, I’ve been following up on a bit and (for example) I’m changing the 1980 housing price to 62k, but the 3x still shows the issue.