An often quoted metric is affordability ie number of years of median wage it takes to purchase a median house.
Now a house should well last a lifetime & still have retained intrinsic value (in Europe many many lifetimes)& most people would consider shelter one of the 2 necessities of life (food & shelture .... I know it's true because Talking Heads told me so back in the late 70's), yet we think it is expensive, but in the same instant are happy to pay a median wage for a hunk of metal, plastic & rubber (called a car) that will be worthless within 10 years or so????
