Housing costs in desirable living destinations like Portland (I guess that still applies) are the main reason for the change in standard of living and the need for two incomes. Since I graduated high school in 1970, the average inflation rate has been 3.97% per year. That means that goods should cost about 6.5 times as much today as they did then. That works for most things, but not housing. We were just checking out the house that my wife grew up in in NE Portland. It's just an average post-war Cape Cod with about a 1500 sq. ft. floor area. The neighborhood is decent, but nothing great. Her parents sold it in 1972 for around $30,000. If the overall rate of inflation applied, that would mean it should sell for just under $200K today. Zoom shows it having an estimated value of $517,000, which is more than 17 times what it sold for in 1972. There are multiple reasons for this in Portland, but a tight UGB and gold-plated development standards are certainly factors. There's also the simple supply and demand factor that results from a lot of people wanting to move here. Want a more affordable lifestyle? Move to Albuquerque.
