To be fair, the old argument doesn't work either. House prices have destroyed our ability to work to pay for secure housing. Either you are renting and that is draining most of your income or you are trying to save for a down payment by living at home and dwelling prices are in general increasing by much more than you are saving and they run away from you. To get in now you either need an extraordinary income or a huge gift/win to get you in the game. Quite sad really.
I've seen a few houses near barrie sell for ~$700K and that seems almost reasonable (because we have been conditioned to think in crazy numbers) but then you look at the interest that you need to pay and holy crap. Even if you saved 100K for a downpayment, you are looking at $30K in interest a year for the next few years. Add in maintenance, property tax and trying to pay off some principal and you left affordable territory far behind.
BTW I edited my post with lotteries being OK for amusement.
It would take several degrees in economics to unravel the implications but one reason for obscene house prices is the YOLO attitude of the masses and it's almost impossible for an individual to fight the current generated by the masses. Consumer prices are not all that different than an auction. There's just a time delay.
Romaine is rotting on the shelves because people won't pay $5 for wilted rusty lettuce. The same people were outbidding each other for wilted rotting houses.
Consumerism has people paying $200 for a tee shirt no better than a $20 tee shirt. How many other products fit that scenario? Egos and expectations are expensive.
Over my lifetime I've seen house prices go up 100 X . Wages have gone up 10 X. It isn't the house it's the land.
Job insecurities have some working longer hours and compensate with more eating out, prepared foods.
Belt tightening and strategic buying helps but a couple starting out on $150 K total income will have trouble saving for a workable down payment, even more so if they drive a M-B. They might be able to come up with a down payment in 10 years. Then it's kids at 35-40 YO.
Trusting the government to look out for us is the biggest mistake. We needed changes to capital gain legislation ages ago but so much trust has been lost with the governments that no one would accept some small modifications. Now massive corrections are needed and the country has become polarized.
What political party would you trust with your credit card and pin?
