Another consumer stomach punch from the Biden Inflation is that the affordability of housing is at its lowest level since the 1980s, with both steep mortgage rates and soaring prices for homes marking misery for buyers.

But other factors are keeping people away from a new dwelling. Non-mortgage costs ranging from property taxes to maintenance, utilities, and home insurance make up more than half the cost of owning a home and they are all rising steeply.

In California, property taxes have gone up by nearly 23 percent since 2019 – even with the protections of Proposition 13. In Charlotte, N.C., the average property tax rose 31.5 percent from 2022 to 2023. In Indianapolis, it was up nearly 19 percent.