If you’re like many potential homebuyers, you’ve watched the sticker price for homes steadily climb and felt frustrated: Why does the cost of housing seem to rise so much more than any other item in your life?
Realtor.com recently decided to take a reality check on this perception. “Exactly how much have housing prices really gone up in the past 30 years?” it asked. The website then compared the rise in home prices to “other commonplace things most of us have been shelling out for over the same period.”
Some of its findings might surprise you. Here’s the upshot:
Home prices:
The national median sale price of a single family home in 2014 was $207,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s about 2.6 times greater than 30 years ago.
Big Mac:
Those two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on sesame seed bun cost $1.60 30 years ago. In 2014, it sold for $4.62, slightly less than 3 times higher.
Gasoline:
In 1986, a gallon of gas cost $1.12. In 2014, gas cost tripled to $3.37 per gallon.
College tuition:
The average undergraduate tuition is now $14,600 — five times the cost of tuition 30 years ago.
While this might not take the sting out of home prices entirely, it at least provides perspective…not to mention making everyone hungry for a hamburger.
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