Welcome to Money for the rest of us. This is a personal finance show on money, how it works, how to invest it, and how to live without worrying about it.

I'm your host David Stein. Today is episode 493. It's titled the Housing

Affordability Crisis. What caused it and how to solve it?

Recently Gallup Analytics did a survey of individuals living in OECD nations and this is

comprised of 38 countries both developed and emerging markets and they

ask them what their level of satisfaction

or dissatisfaction was of various topics.

Half of the respondents, 50% said they were dissatisfied with the availability of affordable housing, that houses were too

expensive. That compares to only 30% of the population in those countries that were dissatisfied with the health care

system, education and public transportation.

Housing is at the top of the list, and it's not surprising when you see in the US, for example, US home prices,

average has gone up 38% since January 2021, and it's over 50% higher since 2015.

Throughout the OECD, home prices are 30% higher than they were in 2015.

In England, house prices are now eight times the average annual wage

compared to only twice the average annual wage in 1997.

If you look at what it cost for a median-priced home in the US,

the monthly payment today is $3,100.

It was $2,000 in January 2021.

If we look at longer term trends,

and I found a chart and a link to it in the show notes, looking at the average home price. a

link to it in the show notes, looking at the average home price in the US divided by the median household income,

the middle household income.

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