It used to be that if you sold one house and bought another for same price then there would be no appreciation taxes, but that stopped a few(?) years ago.

Until something changes, many people are stuck in their homes, unless they are willing to accept the huge downgrade in what they can afford if they moved.

The IRS's 121 Home Sale Exclusion still applies which allows you to exclude $250,000 ($500,000 if married) of capital gains on the sale of your primary residence. For an investment property, you can also do a like-kind exchange to defer taxes.

You convert the current appreciated house into a rental (this is a non-taxable event).

You rent for whatever the required timeline is, and then 1031 exchange it to a more manageable rental in the area you desire (going from overvalued house in the Bay Area to triple-net commercial elsewhere, for example).

Then you die and pass it on to heirs.

If you're referring to Section 1031 exchanges in the US, that never applied to houses you actually live in, only investment properties (and it still does).

In the US from 1964 to 1997 you could upgrade your home (i.e., buy one equal or more expensive) and avoid capital gains taxes and after age 55, you could downsize once and not pay capital gains taxes.

From 1997, we've had the current regime of $250K/single, $500K/couple exclusion if you lived there 2 of the previous 5 years from the sale.

But, yeah, right now, the number of people I know who have paused plans to move? A lot. Both within the area and others who were contemplating relocation.

We were considering a move to a smaller city, but prices there have gone up just as fast as our current area (DC metro). Along with the interest increases, it's not viable any more (would require wife to find new employment, probably at the lower prevailing wage for that area).