Housing as a Percentage of Income

Great point by Cameron Murray:

“If we are in a housing crisis today, then we’ve been in one for 200 years. Median home costs to income ratios have been stable, close to 20-25%, around the world and over time.

Murray’s favorite quote is from someone talking about “the number of large houses just finished & others building is truly surprising; nevertheless every one complains of the high rents & difficulty in procuring a house”—It’s Charles Darwin, observing Sydney home prices in 1836.”

This is a great point, housing prices are higher, but relative to income they have stayed in the 20-25% range for 200 years, they are only slightly higher than that now, and that is market dependent.

It looks bad here, but when I bought my first house I spent about 25% of my income to afford an $89,000 SFR, then 10 years later spent about 30% of my income to buy a $300,000 SFR, etc.