Strictly speaking, it isn't - it's easy to find stories of people who moved somewhere cheaper because it was cheaper. Lots of people suggest and do it.
But it's much much much easier to do from the middle than from the bottom.
People without housing who are not moving already know the answer.
It's a lot harder to pick up and move if you have a mortgage vs. renting some place.
Yes, but if you have a mortgage and have been there for a long time, you're probably sitting on a gold-mine. i wonder if bay area residents ever consider how much money they could make if they just picked up and moved some where else. I bet many of their houses (or the equivalent amount of equity invested in rent ROI optimized houses) could out-earn the people living in them, if they bought more than 20 years ago.
It's not like that in most places. I bought my house at the right time and it's only increased in value maybe 50% in nearly 20 years. I mean it ain't nothing; it beat inflation, but tack on the interest and I'm probably negative. At least I have equity built into it, which I wouldn't if I had opted for an apartment for 20 years. Most houses only make you rich in the fact that you own something after all the years of paying for shelter.