[sad trombone]

My parents bought their first house in the early 1960s with cash. They were the second owner of a relatively-new build and the total price was approximately half their annual household income. This was when a teacher's salary was sufficient to raise a family in a single-income household, and both my parents were working at the time.

When they bought their second house eight years later, it cost iirc four times as much. Before the 1980s a prime household mortgage was commonly over 12%, rather than the sub-3% that's common these days.

So basically there are ways in which buying a house was much easier back then, and ways in which it was much harder. You were definitely getting a lot less return on selling a house back then than you can these days.

@ardgedee yes, interest rates are much lower now, because they absolutely have to be since the actual cost of houses is so insanely high now. the hand-wringing people do over a fraction of a percent of interest would never have been worth the effort decades ago.

we are now locked in to this insanity because any widespread "revaluing" of real estate to non-insane levels would destroy what little remains of the middle class and the last bit of wealth that hasn't been stolen from them. sadly, the best thing the boomers can do for their children is... well... die, and thereby stop voting and leave their house to their kids.

my parents got absolutely boned by the bank in the early 80s for a 20% mortgage rate

Ah yes, I too have had sleep for dinner. A most excellent dish when you've just searched the couch cushions for gas money.