sdrealtor, I follow your logic, but there is no way that the 75th percentile is even close to being the right number. That would basically imply that every above-median household owns and every below-median household does not. The 50th percentile is too low and the real number is somewhere between 50 and 75, but exactly where is hard to say.

The more important fact is that historically before this once-in-a-generation economic bubble came along the median home price has been at or slightly above the level that was affordable to a median household. Those above the median could buy a little less and save money to spend on other things; many below the median could stretch a little and buy a medianish home. Incomes do not put a floor on how low prices can go.