Um, what did you use as the price to compare it to? Wait, you didn't compare it to something that made sense? You, uh, put garbage in and ...
[WS:] I am comparing one real life situation to another real life situation rather than to some imaginary bullshit cooked up by spin doctors. My choice is to buy overpriced real property for about $250k or more at 6.5% or more interest rate, or I can live in a coop paying under $600 a month and have less that 4% of annual carrying charge increase. In both cases, I can stay in the premises in question until I die, if I so chose.
So that is the real comparison for people like me - which are the majority of the US population. Anything else is bullshit cooked up by spin doctors who want me to believe what they say instead of what I see myself to sell me the snake oil that they happen to peddle - the "save by spending more" crap or the Orwellian "war is peace" and "slavery is freedom." I understand that you, being a good Homo Americanus, tend to subscribe to this and the "if it exists it must be good or functional" mentality - but I grew up on the other side of the pond, absorbing a more critical approach to official story telling.
Wojtek