The idea that buying a home used to be straightforward and affordable is one of the most persistent myths in American financial life. The reality across the 1950s, 1990s, and today is far more complicated — and far more interesting — than the nostalgia suggests.
Mar 13, 2026
The median American home cost around $82,000 in 1985. Adjust that for inflation and it looks almost reasonable by today's standards. But inflation adjustment alone tells you almost nothing about what it actually felt like to buy a first home then versus now — and that's where the real story lives.
Mar 13, 2026