> $2.5m for a starter home in SV

While cost of housing is indeed crazy high, 2.5M for a starter home is quite an exageration.

Here's ~300 listings for under $1M:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/house,condo,apartment_...

Pretty much all of those are nicer than any house I have ever lived in, lol.

A quick browse of real estate websites seems to show lots of nice places in SV for well under that amount.

For a certain definition of nice. If you are looking at family homes you’re quickly looking at 2M+ (with a few buildings priced so low that I have to wonder what is wrong with them).

What's considered a starter home? In England (well, the south-east of England), lots of people get started in a 1 or 2-bed flat (~60m²), maybe move up to a small terraced or semi-detached when they have kids.

A starter home in the US would be considered a dream home in many (most?) parts of the world. Garage, front yard, back yard, 3 bedrooms etc, all in a built-up area of around 1500-2000 sq ft (140-185 sq m)

And all of it on at least a quater-acre of land.

They just don't seem to do that kind of housing in much of the US due do zoning. It's all "single-family homes", with no opportunity for more mixed-use construction that would allow for density and cheaper accommodation, such as relatively low-rise buildings (i.e., less than six floors) with one/two bed flats, or even things like corner shops, community post offices, creches, and the like. All that's illegal, which is insanity.

I’ve done the roommating thing, and paid my dues living in small apartments. But at some point I wanted the comfort of a house with a garage, a hobby room, and a yard where the kids can run around.

So, yeah, different expectations.

Depending on your down payment. Some FAANGers just drop 4 mil on a couple of houses and rent one out. And 1.8M is an easy starter even this month.

well see, someone who is in a position to "just drop 4mil on a couple of houses" is top 1%, i.e. not representative for whole lot of ppl.