295: Affordable housing

The boys drink and review Glacial Drift, a spiced winter ale from Heavy Seas, then discuss housing, and why the prices are so high.  What factors have caused home prices to go so high? And how do regular families afford these McMansions? It seems the ratio of income to house prices has changed radically since the 1970s.  Part of it is the assumption of two incomes in each family.  Also, we have bigger houses with fewer people in them. Houses get bigger while families get smaller.  If you track the change in wages vs. the price of homes, inflation-adjusted wages have stayed about the same since the 1960, but houses are twice as expensive.  Are government regulations causing the increase in home prices? Or is it some other factor?