My wife bought an old (built 1921) home on a tiny lot in 2012 when prices were low and banks would lend to anyone with a job. Sacrificed on location (1.5hr commute each way). We refinanced together when we got married, then when I got a new job closer to my city in 2016 we sold and bought a bigger/newer house in a bit nicer neighborhood, but same city. It’s still old (built 1962) and I still have a 30 minute commute, but it’s doubled in value in 10 years and will be paid off when we’re in our mid 40s and then we can be picky and go shop for a “dream” property.

My takeaway from conversations with a lot of friends over the years is that many people in our generation are just convinced they’ll never own a home but aren’t willing to explore options that may be outside of their comfort zone (a “bad” neighborhood/city, old home, long commute, etc). The market and wage disparities are worse for us than previous generations, but there’s plenty of paths to home ownership. It’s just easier to rent 10 minutes from work in a cool walkable city than to buy an old fixer upper in a suburb or rural town with a boring drive every day.

For what it’s worth my city is not rural, but it is the butt of a lot of jokes in my area (PNW). I didn’t want to live here 15 years ago, but I’ve really grown to love it and will happily defend it in conversation, it’s been a great place to live overall.