You throw out a bunch of numbers, but again, you're making the mistake of counting the number of houses that are owner-occupied, not the number of people who ow

You throw out a bunch of numbers, but again, you're making the mistake of counting the number of houses that are owner-occupied, not the number of people who own houses. And it's worth pointing out one of your subconscious biases at work here. You say: "Nowhere on earth, at any point in time, has it been common for a 24 or 26 year old to own a home." And sure, that's true. But they comprise just as much a part of the common man as a 35 year old white man. Just because someone is young doesn't mean you can write them off as "oh they don't count as a typical American!" 14% of people 24-34 live at home with their parents. That's a substantial number. If there are 50 million people in that age group (a guesstimate), that means you're deciding to count 7 million people--a number that is increasing faster than the rate of population growth--as living in owner-occupied housing, when that's misleading as to their actual economic status. And there are similar setups--cousins living with family members, friends living with friends--who aren't counted either. And, given the socioeconomic makeup of most Hacker News readers, I'm guessing the typical reader doesn't have much exposure to demographics where this is a big trend.