> BUT. "where does this leave the majority of this country?" -- well, the majority of the country does not have as crazy a real estate market as Seattle, as far as paying ~$1.5 mil for a dump where you're basically just paying for the land. That is not most of the country.

True - and the problem is less bad in cheaper areas, but it's still bad and getting worse there, too. OP may be able to afford a $300k house in Kansas, but I doubt the average worker in Kansas can.