Someone posted the graph earlier: https://www.macrotrends.net/2015/fed-funds-rate-historical-c...
Fed funds rate in the early 80s were at their historical peak. We are still currently at near historical lows.
Fed funds rate in the early 80s were at their historical peak. We are still currently at near historical lows.
My parents bought their house in 1979, for $33k. ~10 years later, when rates had lowered significantly, it was worth $150k.
Anecdotally, my dad complains about paying an interest rate in the teens for the house I grew up in. My parents paid $69K ($188K in 2022 dollars) for the house, which was about a year old. Zillow estimates the same house at $457K today. Obviously not all of the price increase is due to lower interest rates, but the house _was_ much cheaper, so even with a high interest rate, the mortgage was pretty affordable.
At that time, though, you needed about 20% down payment to qualify for a mortgage. So you weren't borrowing as much, and houses were smaller and cheaper. It was very difficult for many people to buy a house in those years.