Housing costs

[ijmorlan]

The other thing is interest rates. They make the list price higher, though not monthly payments.

I think this is the largest factor.  And regulations regarding mortgages. If mortgages were capped to 3x your family income, max, houses would be a lot cheaper.

However, no more people would be housed, unless more housing was built.

This would still have some positive effects, because it’s probably not healthy for house prices to be so far out of what people can save up, but on its own it would not result in any more people having accommodation. Instead, the recorded sale prices would be lower and the resulting mortgage liability would be less.