I don't think it follows that "the average house is affordable to the average person." A 1br apartment is certainly not the average home. And paying more than 3

I don't think it follows that "the average house is affordable to the average person." A 1br apartment is certainly not the average home. And paying more than 30% of your income on housing might sound like it'll reduce your savings and investments if you are earning a high income where other essential expenses might only take another 20% of your income, but for a low income person, it would mean not being able to afford healthcare, food, transportation. If you can't see the problem, then you don't know much about how the other half lives.