If people couldn't afford houses, they would sit unsold until sellers lowered the price to a price someone could afford. Luckily so many people can afford houses in most areas they don't have to do that.
Jobs, mostly. Along with increased access to all the things people like, like food, other people, activities, etc.
Because if nothing else (and there is a lot of else) the tech/lawyer/finance folks want to have restaurants, shops, cinemas, street cleaners, utilities etc etc etc etc
What proportion of housing do they own? I would assume it’s pretty small if still significant.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/mar/15/in-shift-44...
US: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-price-income-ratio-re...
> If people couldn't afford houses, they would sit unsold until sellers lowered the price to a price someone could afford.
This is fundamentally not the case in much of China and Taiwan where the wealthy sit on empty homes for years or decades. The housing price in Taipei continues to climb while a large number of units sit vacant.