This is what I find interesting. No one seems to complain about house prices more than people in the US - and yet on average - housing relative to rents & wages is much more affordable in the US than almost every other country in the world.
Say that your income is at the 0.75 quantile, nationally: you're just barely in the top quarter.
Now arrange the housing from least desirable to most and look at the 0.75 quantile of that: how affordable is the entry to the 25% most desirable places to live?
How close are those places to where you earn your 0.75 quantile living?
Contrast this to a tiny country like britain or japan with only one major city london/tokyo where everyone wants to live. Where land actually is a limiting factor.
In Cleveland & Detroit and many small towns you can get literally old mansions for less than $200k.
You can get small pieces of crap an hour out of even NYC and LA for around $300k - even in this crazy market. Plus your wages will likely be higher...
SF night be the only metro in the US where this isn't possible.
You need to talk to some Canadians ;)