Realtor shares 1999 'Boy Meets World' clip — it shows why average Americans can’t afford homes today

It is no secret that housing prices have skyrocketed over the past few decades. But many people around the country might wonder if income has kept up with the price rise. A clip from the '90s show "Boy Meets World" has been making the rounds on the internet. In the clip, the characters Cory and Topanga find their dream house in Philadelphia for $80,000. The characters were teenagers when the episode aired in 1999 and probably couldn't buy the house as high school students with no income. However, realtor Freddie Smith—who goes by the username @fmsmith319 on TikTok—used the clip to explain the change in housing prices and income over the years.

"How? How can we afford an $80,000 house?" Topanga asked Cory in the show. The realtor in the clip answered, "Very simple. Over 30 years. Just a trifle down payment and a pittance of a mortgage and two living parents with a pen who can sign!" Smith saw the clip and decided to run the numbers from the 1999 episode. "The show took place in Philly and I saw that the median house price was around $80,000 in 1999." He added, "Now, Cory and Topanga were high school students without a job so they couldn't qualify, but what about the median household income back then?"

"It's $40,000, which is about $3,300 a month." A three percent down payment on an $80,000 house would come to $2,400. "So someone in Philly in 1999 didn't even have to save one month's income to put a down payment on this house." The interest rates at the time were around 7 percent, just like today. "So, with principal, interest, property tax, insurance, and private mortgage insurance, the total payment was $750 a month." Smith then looked at the prices in Philadelphia in 2024 to make a proper comparison. The price for a median house now came up to $250,000, and the median income came up to $60,000. "The housing prices, even in Philly, went up over 200% in the last 25 years, but the income only went up 53%," Smith pointed out.

"So even in smaller cities, metro cities, wherever we look, I don't think I have found a city in America where the housing and income was even close to keeping up," the realtor remarked. Smith's video went viral, garnering nearly 3 million views on the platform. People in the comments shared their housing situations and income levels and the big change over the years. @__stonergirl wrote, "The boomers will watch this and still say if we stopped going to Starbucks and eating avocados, we could afford it."

@amelibel commented, "Cory's dad worked as a manager of a grocery store and his mom didn't work, but they could afford a house in the suburbs. And they had 3 kids!" @pathal25 remarked, "Just work harder! Ok, says the teacher who made $40k/year and was able to buy a 3-bedroom house for their family and go on a vacation every year." @vault.resident shared, "I almost cried when my dad told me he bought our childhood house with a single income of $45k in 1998. 4 bed, 3 bath, 2 story split level house with huge front and back yard. $45k…" @lizzymommy1990 expressed, "6 years ago my house was $130k, now it’s worth $210k and it’s falling apart, houses the same size in my area are going for $250k+."

The housing prices have shot up significantly over the past 25 years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that 2025 housing prices were 108% higher than in 1999, experiencing an average inflation rate of 2.86% per year, reported OfficialData.org

You can follow Freddie Smith (@fmsmith319) on TikTok for more property and housing-related content.