Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates

For six glorious years, Paul Woods and Nora Stout owned a home in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena. They grew lemons and oranges and hosted rollicking parties around a backyard pool facing the purple San Gabriel Mountains. After years of renting, the couple had realized their dream of homeownership and, they thought, were on track for long-term financial security.

You can probably guess where this is going: up in flames. After the house was destroyed in LA’s catastrophic January wildfires, Woods and Stout sold their burned-out lot for $540,000, 20% less than they paid for the house in 2018 and about half of the home’s peak value right before the fire. They ruled out rebuilding, which would cost too much and take too long in a place that won’t ever be the same. So they’re back to renting—for now, in a one-bedroom apartment in Orange County, 40 miles from Altadena.