06/16/2026
Yes, boomers had lower home prices. They also lived a lifestyle most millennials would never accept.
And before the comments explode, I'm Gen X. I watched both generations up close and I have thoughts.
The boomers who bought homes in the 1970s and 80s were dealing with mortgage rates that hit 18%. EIGHTEEN PERCENT. The monthly payment on a $80,000 house at 18% is roughly $1,200. That's the same payment as a much more expensive home today.
They also weren't eating out twice a week. Weren't doing weekend trips to Nashville or Scottsdale. Weren't paying $15 for a cocktail or $6 for a coffee. Streaming didn't exist. Smartphones didn't exist. The lifestyle spend that feels completely normal today would have been unrecognizable to a 28-year-old boomer trying to save a down payment.
Now here's where I'm going to lose some of you.
The tweet is making a fair point. Boomers DID have structural advantages. Home prices relative to income were dramatically lower. A median home in 1980 cost about 3x the median household income.
Today it's closer to 7x. That gap is real and it's not explained away by avocado toast.
But the tweet is also making a lazy point. Boomers didn't just stumble into homeownership. A lot of them ground for it in ways that would feel brutal by today's standards.
The honest answer is that BOTH things are true. The market was more accessible AND the lifestyle was more austere.
The question worth asking isn't which generation had it harder. It's what tradeoffs you're actually willing to make right now to close the gap.
