Why so many Gen Zers and millennials have 'money dysmorphia' — even if they are financially better off than they realize : neoliberal

>The idea among Gen Z and even Millennials is that housing prices will only go up because for their adult life that has been largely true. If you can't afford a home now, it will only be worse next year. If you can't lock in a rate and live like your parents paying half your rent for their house that is easily quadruple the size of your apartment, well it will only be worse tomorrow. It isn't just about securing the American Dream; it's the fear of being unable to shield yourself from explosive growth in prices.

It's an interesting point. One thing I've been amused by is that obviously this trend will not continue forever, boomers will die and pass on their houses and eventually it will be millennials holding them.. presumably. But the frustration is so endemic that this statement generates skepticism, and triggers exaggerated concerns about how shady Chinese investors or wealthy immigrants will surely frustrate this expectation.

Also I suspect that narratives concerning housing are much more focused on the circumstances of wealthy coastal areas nowadays than in the past. Getting a house out in rural Tennessee is still pretty affordable as I understand it. But no, you will probably never afford a midtown Manhattan apartment and that does not mean that capitalism has failed your generation.