We can take a look at the St. Louis Fed "Fred" database take a look at historical affordability of 20 % down payment. Let's divide two numbers, a and b to get a

We can take a look at the St. Louis Fed "Fred" database take a look at historical affordability of 20 % down payment. Let's divide two numbers, a and b to get a ratio of yearly median wage divided by median house price, from 1980 to 2023. [1] a) Employed full time: Median usual weekly real earnings: Wage and salary workers: 16 years and over b) Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States We see that the a/b ratio was 0.25 in 1980, and has declined to 0.05 today. Therefore, a 20 % down payment in 1980 would equal to a 4 % down payment today. Conversely, a 20 % down payment on a house in 2023 (median wage, median house) is equal to a (25/5)*20 % = 100 % down payment in 1980! [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q#0 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q#0