A Generation Z woman made a realization while visiting her parents' home, showing how times have changed when it comes to buying property.
Krystina Barker, 25, lives in Devon, England, and recently bought her bungalow for £203,750 [$248,500]. In a video posted on TikTok, which has received over 51,000 views since it was first shared on January 13, Barker shares her sudden realization that she spent the money on a house "the size of my parents' kitchen."
Barker told Newsweek: "When I realized the size was the same as my mum and dad's kitchen, I was so confused as my parents' house isn't massive.
"So it doesn't feel like a big bungalow, but then to realize my new bungalow was only the size of that room, or a little bigger, was a shock."
In her video, Barker looks at the camera as she makes the realization. She wrote in the text overlay of the clip: "Don't talk to me."
"I am actually p****d," she added in the caption of the post. She flips the camera to show her parents' sizable kitchen, featuring a stand-alone island and armchair, and spacious cooking area.
Barker told Newsweek that, even though her new home is smaller than her parents' kitchen, her new bungalow features two bedrooms, one bathroom, a lounge, and a kitchen, as well as a garage shared with neighbors, which operates on a first-come-first-served basis.
House prices in countries such as the United Kingdom have been steadily increasing for a number of years. The British price comparison site Which? says that house prices rose around 3 percent between 2023 and 2024.
In the U.S., meanwhile, house prices rose by 5.7 percent in the same period, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reports. The average price of a home in the United States is $356,585, Zillow says, compared to £306,000 (around $373,503) in England, the U.K. government reports.
People took to the comments of Barker's video to share their thoughts and opinions.
One TikTok user with the moniker No wrote: "We might be buying a 3 bed house for £98k [$120,000], live laugh love North East England."
Santiago shared: "Stop. I compared my 1 bed flat in London to my parents house that's 9 times bigger in South Africa but the London flat comes close in price. I felt sick."
Krys commented: "Ohhh you make me want to cry."
Jamie Cropley posted: "At least it's easier to clean because it's smaller space."
"I feel your pain—in the process of buying my first house. Years ago I thought 320k could get me a mansion. Now it gets you peanuts," said Tonka Jahari.
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