this isn't about some generic concept of "housing" , it's about housing in a handful of expensive popular metro areas
i just went to zillow and put in chester pa and baltimore md and sort from lowest to highest and it was hundreds of properties under $100K, many that need work for under 50k in baltimore which is a "major" city in fact

people in this country can afford houses, it's just not where they want the houses to be. yall want a fantasy world where people can live where they want when they want and that's never been the case, even before the concept of private property evolved (earlier civilizations paid for land in blood)