7% Rates, $417,500 Median Price: the Monthly Payment Now Tops $2,200.

Chart of the Day

NOVEMBER 11, 2026

COST OF LIVING • HOUSING

A House Cost 2.6 Years of Pay in 1970. Today It Costs 4.8.

Even after the first price decline in three years, homes are less affordable than they were at the peak of the 2008 bubble.

2.6

’70

3.5

’80

3.2

’90

3.3

’00

4.7

’05

5.2

’20

4.8

’26

Median home price divided by median household income, using late-decade averages through 2020 and current data for 2026.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, NAR, 2026

You probably saw the headlines this week. Home prices dropped for the first time in three years. Sounds like the market is finally cooling off.

Not so fast. The median existing home in America sells for $417,500. The median household earns about $87,000. Divide one by the other and you get 4.8. That means the typical house costs 4.8 years of every dollar your household brings in... before taxes, before groceries, before anything.

In 1970, that ratio was 2.6. For three decades it barely moved... 3.5 in the ’80s, 3.2 in the ’90s. A young couple could save up, put money down, and carry the note. Then the cheap-money era kicked in. By 2005, the ratio hit 4.7, and people called it a bubble. After 2020, it peaked at 5.2.

And here’s the part that really gets me. Even after this week’s price drop, the ratio sits at 4.8. That is still higher than the peak of the housing bubble. A dip in the sticker price does not fix what decades of easy money did to the gap between home prices and paychecks.

If you bought your home in the ’80s or ’90s, you got in when the math still worked. Your kids and grandkids face a different equation. The Fed raised rates again in September. Mortgages are running above 7%. The monthly payment on that median house, with 20% down, tops $2,200... that eats about 31% of gross income before property taxes or insurance.

Feds Just Put Your Retirement in the Crosshairs

WASHINGTON JUST PUT YOUR RETIREMENT MONEY IN THE CROSSHAIRS

HERE'S HOW TO FIGHT BACK

Your IRA.

Your 401(k).

Your bank accounts.

Your life savings.

Washington knows exactly where every dollar is.

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Cash isn't legally property.

That's right.

You could spend 40 years working...

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40 years sacrificing...

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And if the government doesn't consider your cash property...

How untouchable is your retirement really?

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History has taught us an ugly lesson:

When governments get into financial trouble...

Ordinary citizens can pay the price.

Rules change.

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You spent decades building your retirement. Don't leave its future entirely in Washington's hands.

THE TAKEAWAY

“In 1970, the typical American home cost 2.6 years of household income. In 2026, it costs 4.8. Even after the first price drop in three years, homes are less affordable than they were at the peak of the 2008 bubble.”

Next time someone at your table says housing is getting affordable again, show them this chart. A small price dip does not fix a 50-year problem. And if you’ve got kids or grandkids looking to buy... that’s a conversation worth having before the holidays. Not after.

More tomorrow. Stay sharp.

— Ray Calloway

7% Rates, $417,500 Median Price: the Monthly Payment Now Tops $2,200.

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