Even in the 2010s it was still possible in some areas. I bought my first home in 2012, right at the bottom of the market. I bought a townhouse in a half-built development in a rough neighborhood. This was in Houston. The developer had gone under halfway through building the place. It was weird, but the place only cost $92k for a 3 bedroom 1800 ft^2 townhouse. I put 3% down on an FHA mortgage. I literally got into home ownership for less than people pay to get into an apartment lease today. Oh, and the mortgage was small enough that for several years I paid the entire mortgage by renting out the two spare bedrooms. The coastal areas were pretty unaffordable even back in the early 2010s. But at least then if you lived there and wanted to, you could move to a lower cost of living city elsewhere in the US and get established. Now? Everywhere is unaffordable.
Even in the 2010s it was still possible in some areas. I bought my first home in 2012, right at the bottom of the market. I bought a townhouse in a half-built development in a rough neighborhood. This was in Houston. The developer had gone under halfway through building the place. It was weird, but the place only cost $92k for a 3 bedroom 1800 ft^2 townhouse. I put 3% down on an FHA mortgage. I literally got into home ownership for less than people pay to get into an apartment lease today. Oh, and the mortgage was small enough that for several years I paid the entire mortgage by renting out the two spare bedrooms. The coastal areas were pretty unaffordable even back in the early 2010s. But at least then if you lived there and wanted to, you could move to a lower cost of living city elsewhere in the US and get established. Now? Everywhere is unaffordable.