Not always by any stretch. Even 5 years ago there were still reasonable options for people. Not easy - but doable. By 2019 that was getting pretty scarce and during the pandemic it just wasn't happening without help from family or the like.
Now it's just going to be a question of how many young people will be able to afford homes. In 2018, maybe half of that population could conceivably be a couple earning good money (75 k a year or better each) and they would be able to swing that. Now maybe the top quarter can or are in a position to get help to do so. Rising rents (which sap savings power) and higher interest rates make it all but impossible, never mind the downpayment requirement associated with the selling prices. Kids are probably going to be into their 40's or 50's by the time they can afford to think about it. If rising rents don't wipe that out as well.
We need to build about 200 k more homes per year than we are currently in order to catch up in a reasonable time frame, which means about an 80 percent increase in construction. In stead we're going to see a bit of a reduction
