That's still possible (and in some cases, plumber/carpenter/contractor is perhaps the best option still available).

What we're seeing is at least partially the result of everyone going to college for something like a few decades.

Deciding to be apprentice to a plumber at 17 is much different than having to do the same at 21/23 because the degree you went into debt for isn't panning out the way you wanted.

You're 4+ years behind, you're some amount of debt in the hole, and you're having to work hard.

(Average student loan debt is something like $37k, which isn't the cost of a house, but is certainly close to a down payment.)

You're right, my nephew bought a shack to fix up in Montana a few years back. But, I don't think that's what most people think of when they say the dream is alive.

You can still get an FHA loan and put 3.5% down.

> Just fifty years ago you could buy a home by swinging a hammer for a few years. No degree needed. So it was a thing.

Not even that far back.

I can't even match the standard of living my parents (and friends' parents) raised us in in the 90s/2000s. Exactly 0 of the people I'm thinking of were "professionals" or had any high-quality rigorous education at all.

All had condos/SFH with (gasp) a garage very close to where I still live.

Many of the wives didn't work at all, other than perhaps retail type jobs once we were old enough to be self-sufficient.