Alex Buscemi
Many Baby Boomers tell the younger generations to quit their bellyaching about the economy and pull themselves up by the bootstraps. After all, the Boomers did it. Why can’t Millennials and Gen Z figure it out?
Well, a major barrier preventing younger generations from accumulating wealth is the inability to buy a house. The average home price in America was $495,000 in the second quarter of 2023.
How did we get here? Take your pick. Inflation. Rising mortgage rates. Limited housing supply exacerbated by rich people and hedge funds buying up entire neighborhoods and turning everybody else into forever renters.
Worse yet, wages have not kept up with these sky-high prices. Not even close.
Meanwhile, Boomers were able to buy a house for the price of a car today. And it only cost them about a year’s salary.
Granted, many boomers were likely buying into places that weren’t desirable at the time, and have since been built up over the 40+ years since they bought their first homes, but still, does that explain all of the price growth?
To get a better picture of how much easier the boomers had it financially, these young TikTokers tracked down elderly people and asked them how much they paid for their first house.
The results were even lower than expected.
Tikoker Debo asked boomers how much they paid for their first house
@dangelorufff I’m so confused 🤨 #fyp #foryou #viral #trending #dangeloruff
This man paid only $37,000 for his first house back in 1980.
His mother-in-law forked over only $16,000.
@dangelorufff I’m so confused 🤨 #fyp #foryou #viral #trending #dangeloruff
This couple paid only $25,000 for their house 45 years ago.
@dangelorufff I’m so confused 🤨 #fyp #foryou #viral #trending #dangeloruff
And 53 years ago, this couple nabbed their home for a measly $25,600.
They also shared the gas prices back then: 39 cents to the gallon.
“Inflation is crazy” — internet commenters were shocked and depressed by the low figures
h/t Twisted Sifter
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