When is the last time you heard about booming construction in low-cost rentals anywhere in America?

In the age of quick news cycles and social media, it can be hard to make heads or tails of housing market news.

With plenty of sources to pick and choose from, it’s easy for anyone to form a narrative that is inconsistent at best.

Take, for example, housing pundits that report the demand for housing is strong, while these same pundits, on another day say that we are in a housing affordability crisis. The “strong demand” card is useful when they are trying to convince buyers to get into the market before it is too late, while the “affordability crisis” card is slapped down when they need an excuse for weak demand.

In a coherent world, these two conditions cannot exist in the same time-space continuum. But nowadays, this seems to be the norm.

What is a rational, reality seeking consumer of news to believe? Math, facts and data, as always, stand ready to come to the rescue.

When we think about housing affordability in the U.S., it is meaningless to use nominal prices without considering location, location, location and the median incomes in those locations.

Take, for example, the area of the country where I reside, Irvine, California. In this Southern California burb, the median home price in my zip code is $1,176,938.