I don’t know the case of the US, in my country you can.
Literally you can buy 80/90% cheaper, and have a house for what would be about 35,000 dollars.
If you go to big cities you’ll have a shitty apartment for 400,000 dollars.
That's awesome, gives me much hope. Hopefully the housing situation improves once boomers pass on, they hold the majority of the real estate value despite being just one generation.
I've heard it's much better in many european countries, but not all. Closer to 1x yearly salary for a cheap home like you describe.