In 1971 I bought my first home for $28,000. My annual income was $10,000. I was buying a home within the usual guideline parameters for buying at home 2 ½ to 3 times my annual income. Excluded was my wife’s income because I knew she would stop working once we had children. I sold that house in 1979 for $88,000. I could not afford to buy the house for that price because my salary had tracked the median household income and was $17,000. I was fortunate and my income did exceed the annual average in the following years. However, it certainly did not rise sufficiently to enable me to afford buying my second home at its market price in 2000 and beyond.
The U.S. Census Bureau currently publishes median household income data from 1975 until present day.
Year
No. of Households
Nominal $
Inflation Adjusted $
2009
117,538,000
$49,777
$49,777
2008
117,181,000
$50,112
$50,112
2007
116,783,000
$50,233
$52,163
2006
116,011,000
$48,201
$51,473
2005
114,384,000
$46,326
$51,093
2004
113,343,000
$44,334
$50,535
2003
112,000,000
$43,318
$50,711
2002
111,278,000
$42,409
$50,756
2001
109,297,000
$42,228
$51,356
2000
108,209,000
$41,990
$52,500
1999
106,434,000
$40,696
$52,587
1998
103,874,000
$38,885
$51,295
1997
102,528,000
$37,005
$49,497
1996
101,018,000
$35,492
$48,499
1995
99,627,000
$34,076
$47,803
1994
98,990,000
$32,264
$46,351
1993
97,107,000
$31,241
$45,839
1992
96,426,000
$30,636
$46,063
1991
95,669,000
$30,126
$46,445
1990
94,312,000
$29,943
$47,818
1989
93,347,000
$28,906
$48,463
1988
92,830,000
$27,225
$47,614
1987
91,124,000
$26,061
$47,251
1986
89,479,000
$24,897
$46,665
1985
88,458,000
$23,618
$45,069
1984
86,789,000
$22,415
$44,242
1983
85,407,000
$20,885
$42,910
1982
83,918,000
$20,171
$43,212
1981
83,527,000
$19,074
$43,328
1980
82,368,000
$17,710
$44,059
1979
80,776,000
$16,461
$45,498
1978
77,330,000
$15,064
$45,625
1977
76,030,000
$13,572
$43,925
1976
74,142,000
$12,686
$43,649
1975
72,867,000
$11,800
$42,936
Home prices have not kept pace with median family income for most people. We saw an unrealistic acceleration that was boosted by the government and home loan companies. From the Business Insider comes this graph created by economist Robert Shiller that supports my contention that the housing bubble will not be inflating any time soon.
I am a somewhat cranky but mostly optimistic 65 plus who refuses to give up on this maddening world. The purpose of this BLOG is to express my feelings, thoughts.
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