The US may be in a more or less similar situation. We have a lack of affordable housing in every state, have underbuilt for decades, etc.
The scale of the problem is dramatically different. In the US, like much of the world, there are the expensive areas and then the less expensive areas, and people migrate accordingly. Gentrification happens and people have to move further afield, etc. I see listings for extraordinary homes in various towns in the US for prices that are absolutely dreamy (not like ghettos, but nice little towns). In a remote world, the US has astonishingly attainable options throughout the union.
In Canada, far-flung garbage towns have million dollar bungalows and $3000 rents. There are no inexpensive options anywhere, no matter how far out you're willing to move just to have a place to live. The country literally has politicians telling people to loan a bedroom. Yet in the face of actually falling home building and recurring disasters, the governing party has doubled down on an immigration rate that exceeds every other developed country (and I'm not talking about per capita, I'm talking about in absolute numbers!). It's unbelievable.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk on location-based compensation is wage theft.
Call it volatility, and it is not easily calculable as a number. I can get a job move to cheap Topeka, KS, but how much does the volatility cost me if I lose that job or I get laid off, etc.
How? How can rural people afford it? Are you talking about rural places that are tourist locations? Do you have any data on this? It seems wrong to me.
I'm not convinced the "affordable housing" people imagine is available if you go far enough out in the US is as available as is popularly presumed.
The western US is a lot more expensive than the rest of the US.
https://cdn.nar.realtor//sites/default/files/documents/ehs-0...
Obviously this doesn't mean everyone in all situations can find a home, but the scale of the problem is just dramatically different.
No, I'm not looking at teardowns. Many of these are absolutely gorgeous, extremely well-appointed homes. This is more than just touristy noise at this point: I am seriously considering relocating to the US because of what is happening in Canada, and have looked in depth at available homes across the nation.
I wish you luck in finding your bliss, but this seems like an unconstructive discussion.
PS: What's on the internet is not necessarily a comprehensive and accurate picture of reality on the ground.