+1
Mortgage payments are a killer, even with the low interest rates we've had for the last 5/10 years.

Yes and worse when the mortgage rates are artificially low, so a lot will get stung once they start rising to a more normal long term rate. The fact is that the actual price of homes is still way too high. The fact that the prices are way too high means that standards of living are being drained from the future. Those who are younger and still not on the property ladder will find that the options in future for them are worse. Poor pensions, requiring higher pension savings and higher student debts again meaning that the disposable income for homes and everything else will be even tighter. There needs to be a progressive tax system that enables that wealth to trickle down and not rely on industry to achieve it for us.