My family situation aside, it looks as though the average cost of a house in the 30&#x27;s was $7145 in historical money [src]. I&#x27;d imagine 1930 itself was probably lower than that average over the period, but I&#x27;m not sure.<p>[src - not sure about the credibility, but it&#x27;s good enough for me and this discussion] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slideshare.net&#x2F;mobile&#x2F;bentleytran&#x2F;living-cost-of-the-1930s" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slideshare.net&#x2F;mobile&#x2F;bentleytran&#x2F;living-cost-of...</a><p>There&#x27;s a general problem with using averages anyway. As I see it an average wage&#x2F;cost does not actually equal a normal cost which I believe is more important. That is the most common occurrence of something is often distorted by the averaging out process. So I don&#x27;t put a lot of stock in using them.<p>Overall I&#x27;m pretty sure a few things happened:<p>1. Product costs went down due to cost reductions (found via economies of scale within manufacturing) and things like sugar manufacturing.<p>2. Money saved from General goods went into fuelling house price surges. i.e. People don&#x27;t have bidding wars over food they just buy them at market price, but houses are different, they immediately are driven up with no regulation and lower supplies.