> and household incomes are high I've got no data, but I wonder if rising inequality might be warping the statistics here. At least, if incomes were really hi

> and household incomes are high I've got no data, but I wonder if rising inequality might be warping the statistics here. At least, if incomes were really high across all population segments affected by the housing crisis, we shouldn't see so much talk about unaffordable cost of living, student debt, healthcare costs, etc. Something doesn't add up here. Household incomes might be extremely high for certain groups (e.g. tech workers) while too low to afford decent housing in other groups. > If housing affordability affected happiness, unhappiness should have been off the charts in the early 1980's. But it wasn't, according to the linked article. People were as happy as ever while taking out mortgages at 18% interest This might as well indicate that this way to calculate housing availability is wrong, not that housing availability doesn't affect happiness.