Housing costs have definitely gone up while wages have remained quite stagnant. The rich have really gobbled up the lion’s share of this recovery, at least so far, although wages do tend to be a lagging economic indicator.
Of course, looking at 2011 is going from peak affordability, the bottom of the crash, up through the normalization to whatever we’re currently in. More accurate would be to look at something like 2007, after the bubble had deflated, but much closer to “normal” prices.
Not all metros are created equal. San Francisco has fully developed its landmass. There’s really no where for it to build out anymore. So even if incomes aren’t able to support the demand side of the equation, there’s no way supply can help fix the problem.
I’m starting to see SOME upward pressure on wages. If unemployment can stay fairly low that’s likely to help push salaries up, finally.
