Housing is "unaffordable" mainly because most Americans looking to buy a home never actually buy one. Instead, they end up buying a mortgage. It's not the home that's "unaffordable" ... it's the mortgage that's expensive. And if the mortgage is expensive even with historically low interest rates, then there's obviously something wrong with this picture.
Exactly. In the long run the mortgage interest and the taxes end up costing more than the house.