4 ms·

For things like mortgages, they're still historically low(ish). See the graph on this page for instance https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/historical-mortgage-

• S201 3y ago
  True, but home prices are also much higher than in the past partly thanks to that long period of low interest rates. Taking on these huge loans with corresponding (comparatively) high rates is a different ballgame than it was in the past.
• mholt 3y ago
  Home prices in the '80s were ~$60,000; equivalent homes now are about 10x that [0]. With inflation bouncing around 2-6% on average [1], and only modest wage increases over decades [2], that makes the median home today way less affordable even with these relatively low interest rates. [0]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS [1]: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi [2]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000003 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES0500000003
  • travisgriggs 3y ago
    All 4 of my children, in various stages of degreedness, have told me they have no hope of ever owning a home of their own like they were able to grow up in.
    • nojvek 3y ago
      I wonder if there is a metric tracking # of homes owned by <30 year olds compared to # of homes owned by <60 year olds. Even at current interest rates, the prices are quite nuts.
      • hnuser847 3y ago
        Homeownership by age demographic has been surprisingly stable over the past 20 years. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/charts/fig07.pdf https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/data/charts/fig07.pdf