Comment by phpthrowaway99

It can't be just that. I have the skills, tools, and basically enough cash to build what would have been a nice house on decent land in California 20 years ago. But it's nowhere near enough now. By the time you buy 2 acres on the edge of town, get all the connections to utilities you need, get everything approved and permitted, and pay for all the materials, you're well beyond what most regular people can afford. In 1998, I had a highschool friend who's mother was going to law school at 40 years old, and his dad was an employee in the construction industry. In 2 years over weekends, while the mother still paid for law school, they build a house that today is worth well over a million dollars on 1 acre. A construction worker with a wife going back to college isn't pulling that off today. If they could, they would do it full time and build one of owner builder homes and sell them. It doesn't pencil out these days at all from government fees and material costs. It's not just 'oh houses are expensive because owners want them to be'.