Good thing there isn't a housing shortage. And most countries easily manage to pay for education and healthcare.
Most countries aren't America. Germany, as a point of comparison, had half the share of it's population enrolled in university. Part of this is because of age distribution: America is younger and has more college age people. Also, about 50% of German high schoolers go on to university as compared to 70% of Americans. People keep pointing to the European education system, but my retort is that following Europe's example would entail reducing enrollment considerably.
Healthcare is indeed one place where administrative changes could solve things. Most European countries, along with Japan and South Korea, work by giving citizens a stipend to spend on a healthcare plan from a marketplace of providers (either directly, or indirectly through subsidizing plans). This is largely what Romney was proposing in 2012, but that effort fizzled out. Unfortunately, the one party in America in favor of healthcare reform seems to be laser focused on a fully nationalized healthcare to the exclusion of anything else.
"Most countries aren't America" is just an excuse. Most European countries aren't Germany. So by that reasoning most European countries can't afford education or healthcare.
Here's what really makes the US different: most countries don't have America's massive wealth gaps. That's the real cause.
Again, wealth gaps don't affect the prices of goods. The cost of cars, cell phones, and plenty of other things are largely the same between the US and other developed countries. Housing in the US is plenty cheap outside desirable metros. And Europe similarly has expensive housing in desirable metros. Housing is expensive in Stockholm, the better parts of London, etc.
Here's another source supporting my claim.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-sell-a-house-these-days-...