It should be noted the house my parents bought in their early 40s was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, with no air conditioning. The school district was so-so, the lot wasn't very big, and the economy in that city at the time was declining. Most young people wouldn't be too interested in that today.

(Interestingly the cost of housing in the Bay Area back then - late 1980s - was the same as that Rust Belt city; we almost ended up there.)

So many comments eager to dismiss the message with the same old refrains. Refrains that were directly addressed in the article.

My parents bought their house cash. No they were not high earners and not even median income earners. Yes the house is now worth close to a million dollars.

What the house is worth today is a lot of luck. I just looked at the house my parents built in 1978. It last sold for $225k in 2019.

How is this totally random personal anecdote relevant to this incredibly complicated, large scale societal discussion?