> we cannot rebalance our budget by moving Neither can a renter, really. Say you're in a 1BR. Even moving down to a tiny studio won't help much, because the ti

> we cannot rebalance our budget by moving Neither can a renter, really. Say you're in a 1BR. Even moving down to a tiny studio won't help much, because the tiny studio still costs significantly more now than your 1BR did five years ago. There's no cheaper option to move down to. Well, there is one: Say your 1BR used to be $1.6k five years ago and is now $2.4k. The only way to get back to $1.6k is to rent a $3.2k 2BR and split the cost with a roommate. That's actually doable. That works for a single person. But if you were a family renting a 2BR, then your options would be more limited. The analogous thing would be to find a 4BR house and split it with another family, but that's a pretty difficult social arrangement. The other option is to get a new job in a cheaper place. Often the pay is a little lower, but not in proportion to the reduction in home prices, so you come out ahead, at least as far as your monthly budget is concerned. That neglects price appreciation though. In a regime of rising inequality, real estate is "winner take all", and the unaffordable places will, paradoxically, continue to see the most appreciation. You'll miss out on those capital gains. Better to buy whatever rich people are going to want.