When it comes time to buy a house, it can be one of the most exciting things in your lifetime. It’s a start to new beginnings and you get to make your house, YOUR home. Your decorations, your food in the fridge, your furniture; but do we stand a chance against the rising housing market? This is one of the the biggest questions Americans are facing.
The housing market is facing one of its most challenging spikes in the nation’s history. Based on recent surveys, around 30% of people can afford to purchase a house. Affordability isn’t even in the cards for millions all over the United States and it is becoming a crisis. Buyers and renters are experiencing drastic increases in their monthly payments that have gotten to a point where people can’t afford to live.
But it hasn’t always been this way. Older generations say they had it easier.
In an interview with the Triton Voice, assisted living resident Chuck Mann says “I bought my first house in the 40s. My house was around $30,000 in Lowell, Massachusetts, can you believe that? Nowadays my first house is cheaper than a brand new car!” Currently, Mann is a resident at a senior center, living in Newburyport. When asked how much it is to stay in his apartment he responded, “I pay too much to live here but I am happy…As far as my knowledge goes though, it’s around 10 big ones to live here.” To be exact, in his room it is closer to 13k a month to be a resident at the assisted living facility. In fact, his payment per month is almost half what he paid for his house in the 1940s.
Triton special education teacher , Mr. Kurt Riece says he experienced anxiety over house prices, too. “Forty-five years ago I bought my first house for under 50k. I didn’t think I was gonna be able to keep up with it but I did. The prices of houses on the market go up but so do job rates. Some people make 250k a year which is why houses are so expensive too.” Between the resident interviewed above and Mr. Reece, the market had increased about 20k within the 40 year age gap of the houses being purchased.
Lastly, Triton Student Brooke Baumann shared, “My dad is trying to buy a house and it is listed for around 600k. In reality its maybe worth half of what it’s listed as.”
In summary, the state of the housing market needs to change sooner than later. The cost to live shouldn’t be so much that people with full time jobs can’t even afford a condo let alone keep up with the monthly payments. I’m not sure what specifically, but something needs to happen before this crisis continues to escalade even more than it already has.
