-- It paints the entire country as one real estate market, but real estate is local.
-- Interest rates are still super low by historic standards. If we have a small recession this spring it will likely benefit buyers. If interest rates go up, suddenly seller carry contracts and private lending becomes attractive again (IE: buyers have even more options to attain capital)
-- Cities aren't the entire country. If you want to buy a house and you can work remotely, there are a whole lot of very nice small towns and cities around the US where the quality of life is surprisingly high, they are great places to raise a family, and real estate is still very affordable.
-- Inventory - again, totally depends on your market. Locally everybody says there aren't any houses, but what they really mean is that there aren't any turn key houses that have all the amenities they want. Builders are building a lot of crap that isn't what buyers want - that is a problem. But there are a lot of older homes that someone could put in some sweat equity and have a great home at a reasonable price - but nobody wants to be first into those neighborhoods or to do the work.
-- First time buyers have more support than they realize. Not only are there FHA and USDA programs to help them, but states also have down payment assistance and various first time buyer programs.