Food is not a luxury anymore. The past couple of decades have seen immense improvement in the food industry as a whole. It was inevitable that those improvements and savings spill over to customers. And since even rich people only have one belly each, eating well became less of a luxury and more accessible to the middle class. The inventory in normal supermarkets have improved astonishingly in the past 15 years. But nobody takes note, because it's a gradual process.

Eating in restaurants is as much a marker of wealth and a luxurious lifestyle as owning a wireless telephone – ie not at all.

But owning your own home has by monetary policy means been turned to something only achievable with huge wealth – or selling the rest of your life to the bank.