I would argue that someone can’t sacrifice their future ability to buy just to lower the price on a single unit.

They’re stuck by the incentives of the situation just like everyone else.

We can’t expect anyone to act outside their own good when it comes to huge amounts of money. Especially in a capitalist society where the only thing that protects your quality of life is money. No one is going to step in when things go wrong except your decision to protect yourself and your family by making financially beneficial decisions.

And yeah, that sucks when you are the other major portion of our society who isn’t given the resources to grab that protection/money with both hands and not let go.

And on a more solution oriented note:

1. We need increased supply of dense housing appropriate for the average family, for the 20-30 yr olds who simply need a single bedroom, and for the retirees who need a small place to live after their children move out. Dense housing because driving an hour to where your job is makes sense to only a very small fraction of people and cities are continuing to attract people.
2. Increased pay for the average worker - probably requiring a decreased incentive to drive profits above all else for the large corporations that drive the majority of our market. (Thinking of examples like Walmart that pay minimum wage and then require their workers to receive government subsidies… meanwhile Walmart gets a profit. It’s a little circular.)
3. Kindness so we can all share our stories and think of solutions that change the structure and don’t require individuals to act outside their own interest. If we shut down conversation we’re no better than our silly two party system that seems to make enemies out of each other. Listen and sympathise and learn what each person has been able to build. Don’t be each other’s enemies. That’s letting the system we’re in win.

I would love to buy a condo right now, but rent is cheaper than buying looking at a 5 year time frame until mortgage rates drop below at least 6%. It would be years before the interest and taxes portion of the payment dropped below our current rent.

We’ve literally agreed with our landlords who want to sell after we leave that we’re all sitting still until mortgage rates drop. (Or I guess inflation rises high enough to offset the debt versus investment part of the pile.)

And this is all after moving to Utah from the west coast to get cheaper housing in general… Although the lower paychecks basically balance it all out 😂

I’d love to buy your condos - but if we look at renting versus buying… It’s cheaper to rent versus buy until mortgage rates drop below 6%. We’ll just be sitting here adding to the mortgage payment pile until then.

A house is laughably out of reach.

My native French speaking mom will occasionally address my non-french speaking husband in French without realizing unless I tell her and even then she only knows because I’ve told her.