It is for me. I work as a research engineer at a non-FAANG company in Silicon Valley and I have 4.5 years of industry experience largely in R&D environments. If I were in the Sacramento metro area then I could afford to purchase a detached single-family home in all but the most expensive neighborhoods. I would have a wide selection of safe neighborhoods to choose from with excellent public schools, beautiful parks, and other amenities.

Unfortunately, in the Bay Area my options for purchasing a detached single-family house are limited. At my current salary, if I want to purchase a detached single-family home, I'd either need to buy it in exurbia (e.g., places like Tracy to the east or Hollister to the south) or in East Oakland, which is still struggling with crime. Both places are a long commute from my Silicon Valley office. If I want to purchase a place within an hour from my job such as the southern part of San Jose, I'd need a considerable salary boost. Places like Cupertino and Sunnyvale seem impossibly expensive to me.

I've been thinking a lot about where I'd like to settle down. Silicon Valley has a wealth of specialized research scientist and research engineer positions, but I don't see myself ever being able to afford a house within an hour from Silicon Valley unless I join an early-stage startup that happens to be a wild success. On the flip side, there are plenty of places across the country, even within California, where homes are affordable with a low six-figure salary, but the problem is the types of jobs that I want tend to be restricted to tech hubs, which tend to have very high housing costs.

My goal (set by a different culture of origin, with much less space available than in the US) is an apartment that I own, with enough indoor space for a family. The American obsession with "detached" doesn't resonate with me, and may not serve you well if you're living in this expensive of a housing market.

That becomes difficult when 2 bedroom+ places are rarely built because it’s more profitable per m2 to build 1 bedroom units.

If it's unprofitable to build 2br+ apartments, it's not any easier to find 2br+ houses.

For whatever reasons (planning approvals?), 1br houses aren’t built. At least around here. But 1br apartments and condos are the bulk of the market.

That’s not to say that 2br+ apartments are unprofitable to build, just less so.

> Is it such a big concern even for so highly paid people?

Yes.

I get paid handsomely for my country and the actual experience I have. However, despite that, it's impossible for me to buy a house within 45 minutes travelling of my workplace, so I'm forced to spend about half my net incoming on rent.

Similar situation to me.

I now pay more for a room in a five person shared house then i paid for a 3 bed house to myself. The only difference is being located closer to London for the better career advancement/salary.

It's a huge concern if you're living in the "western world", especially in a big city, which is where jobs tend to congregate. London is a nightmare for this, for example.

It's the exact reason why many tech people are clamoring for remote work and going for "vacations" to Asian holiday countries (Thailand is a big one) where they stay most of the year. It's literally cheaper to live in a tropical paradise than in a reasonable apartment in London.

I've also seen a trend where companies start their offices in smaller cities next to capitals and their employees don't commute TO work, they commute from their homes to bigger cities on weekends. It's still decidedly far from ideal but it beats spending 1.5 hours on a commute every single day.

Tech jobs, especially the type held by HN readers tend to be clustered together in expensive real estate markets so naturally it would be a top issue in the minds of most here. Even for someone like myself who works remotely from the north Georgia mountains and has no problem affording a large home with acreage, the housing woes of tech hubs is a concern because it becomes a public policy issue that can have impacts beyond the expensive areas they're meant to address.

Yes, because we're competing with each other. If there's 5 houses and 6 well-paid developers bidding on them you still have a problem.

(Pity the poor teacher, nurse, etc. who's just SOL)

Not just with each other but if landlords and real estate companies far more wealthier then us, which inflate the demand to a level that doesn’t make any sense. That’s why even earning a top 5% salary you still can’t afford a home close to city centers.

I don't really see how I'm competing with real estate companies and landlords, though. How exactly do they inflate demand for housing?

I mean, if there's 5 properties for rent instead of sale in the example I gave you still have the same core problem.

If 100 people need homes and you only have 50, then the people with the most money they can/want to spend on housing will get it.

It's attenuated by the willingness of people to have roommates, move in with family (if around) etc. so there can be more latent demand than is immediately present. Even if you have no homeless but a whole city is 4 rich tech workers per 3 bed apartment, there's still plenty of demand.

They don't inflate demand, they inflate pricing. To buy a house you are competing with all the peope + all the companies that see it as an investment opportunity.

It’s not just high salaries, you could be competing against someone with a moderate salary and an inheritance.

Housing is probably the single biggest expense category for most people. Even highly paid people, who likely live in much higher cost-of-living areas.

Healthcare is the second biggest.

Food, clothing, and other sundries are a joke by comparison.

Because access to real estate affects your access to high income jobs. These people are highly paid precisely because they pay attention to real estate.

It's easy. Its the same in all major cities in Europe. Entertainment is almost free, healthy food is cheap, medical care is mostly free, education is free, sports are cheap, traveling is super cheap. Everyone puts all of their money in real estate, supply is extremely restricted, demand is bigger every month, prices skyrocket.

at the moment Its big for me, because I'm right now looking to buy a new place to move to for better school options for the kids and a shorter commute for me.

but otherwise. little to no interest.