I got lucky as hell with that homebuyer credit (bought my first house in 09). Think they'd need to do something similar that helps people with the initial down payment. People are already paying $2K a month for apartments. A mortgage won't be much more than that, but it's that down payment representing the biggest hurdle in buying (along with getting approved for a loan obviously). One thing that helps is it's become much more normalized for kids to remain in their parents homes into their 20s, early 30s. The stigma isn't there (imagine trying to date a girl and telling her you live in your parents' house back in the early 2000s). Makes it somewhat easier to build your savings even if you aren't making a great salary/hourly rate.They won't come down, OP. Get used to these prices, because they are probably the new normal going forward. If you didn't buy a house between 2009-2021, you can forget about buying one at all, unless you suddenly get a GREAT paying job that pays you over $200K per year, or if the economy crashes identical to 2008. Short of those two things happening, prices will either stay the same, or even go up further. Interest rates are a beast right now too. If you bought your home during the pandemic at the 3% interest rate, you are golden, and have no incentive to sell. The interest rate is now at 7%, which is brutal.