Orlando realtor Freddie Smith discusses how owning a home and living a typical middle class life has become increasingly unattainable for most millennials and older Gen Z.

TL;DR: Americans now need to make $120K a year to afford a typical middle-class life and qualify to purchase a home. Minimum.

  • PrincessLeiasCat
    20·
    11 months ago

    Smith explained how, just a few years ago, $60-$70K a year would have been sufficient to qualify for a home.

    “Most people are carrying student loan debt, which is at an all-time high, and the average payment in the country is $500 a month for your college degree. [There are] some people I’m seeing in my comment section saying ‘$500, I wish, it was $1,200 a month for me’,” said Smith.

    “If you are someone who bought a house before 2020 and you have it paid off or you have a 3% interest rate, you are not burdened by the housing costs like the 2024 adults are now,” the relator said, explaining how debt, especially college debt, housing costs and childcare are burdening millennials and Gen Zers starting their lives.

    It’s scary how everything seemed to change so fast, yet the ingredients for this very situation have been simmering for some time. It’s no coincidence that since student loans ballooned it didn’t take much for the dominoes to really begin to fall and have drastic effects on everything else downstream.

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
      6·
      11 months ago

      At least part of the equation is that Trump pressuring the Fed to lower rates (that were already historically low in the first place) to add even more fuel to what already was an overheated market prior to COVID completely wrecked the housing market for the foreseeable future.

      I bought in 2020 and I’m glad I did because if I hadn’t I would’ve likely been permanently priced out.

      • PrincessLeiasCat
        3·
        11 months ago

        Yeah, I bought a couple years before and I’m glad I did, but it’s really sad to think of everyone who couldn’t or didn’t for whatever reason.

        Everything is so messed up now and the uncertainty will probably continue for awhile.