8% interest on 40k is only $63k interest paid (A 1995 home had a total cost of $123k)
8% interest on 400k is $633k (that same home in 2024 has a total cost of $1.2 million dollars)
Ummm, where?
And the parent comment was about the low interest rate ("nearly free money") not the amount.
What I do know is that many professional-class students can start their careers, i.e. first-year salary, at $100k and often significantly more. In 1995 nobody earned even $50k straight out of school. Economy-wide inflation numbers are weighed down by low-paying jobs, therefore greatly under-estimate how much professional (i.e. most likely to be home buyers) salaries and early earning potential has grown over the past 30 years.