I’m not sure it will get that bad. Although, after accounting for inflation, you may not be far off on the price of such a “palace”.

I strongly suspect that we are at the start of a “rebalancing” here in the US. We are starting to see it in the labor market. Fewer people seem to be heading for degrees that aren’t paying and are opting instead for the trades. Which, while good for them, the nation and the states, is going to kinda suck for me in a few years as the job market I’m in becomes more and more saturated and I get older and older.