Is there really a housing crisis?

Why is everything a crisis? Like the affordability crisis? The age of first home purchase has increased to 38. We were 22 when we bought our first house, a run down duplex. Dual incomes were the exception until 2nd wave feminism in the 70s when women were told to go to work to have value (and to pay more taxes). We were thrilled to have renters pay our mortgage! It needed a lot of sweat equity and a loan from my dad.

 
Young people today want much more. They marry later and have huge college loans--even their parents are still paying off loans! They want nice cars--and need 2 or 3. We didn't take trips, buy nice cars, go out to eat, or dress well. For a long time we were "house poor." I get this uneasy feeling that when the government steps in to "fix" housing, things get worse, like 2007-2008 subprime crisis, or building "affordable" neighborhoods (that aren't). We had run away consumerism and inflation--keeping up with the Jones. In America, you really can have it all--just not all at the same time.

This complex https://www.apartments.com/fox-and-hounds-columbus-oh/cvfs42e/ is about 50 years old. Based on inflation since 1967, it's less than the 2 bdrm 1 bath unit we rented in 1967 after we sold our house in Illinois and moved to Columbus . What is affordability? We had one income (because a wife's income wasn't factored in the housing costs in those days). The dollar had an average inflation rate of 4.00% per year between 1967 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 869.99%, or our $140 rent would be like $1360 in 2025.