My father bought his home when he was 27 years old, and it became part of the foundation of my family’s life. He met my mother there, at a potluck hosted by his roommate. He planted trees and raised three children there. He and my mother still live there today. For many young Americans, including me, that timeline sounds backward. Today, buying a home is no longer a cornerstone but a capstone — something you do eventually, once you’re stable and secure and a little bit lucky. You move in with your success already in hand. Across the country, it has become much more expensive to buy a home. The typical home now costs almost five times the median household income, up from 2.5 in 1950 and 3.3 in 1991, when my father bought his house. The Times editorial board set out to explain why. We mapped housing affordability across the country and compared it with construction rates in each region. The data makes it clear: The affordability problem is a supply problem. Where cities have failed to build for growing populations, housing has gotten more expensive. Where they’ve kept pace, prices have steadied. Aside from a handful of wealthy resort towns, almost no region has built aggressively and remained expensive. The best solution, then, is to make it easier to build. We write about how states and cities can get started. Read our editorial and see where your city stacks up. Note: This newsletter will not publish on Memorial Day. Opinion Today will return on Tuesday, May 26.
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