Michael Burry's Housing Advice to a 26-Year-Old: Buy Half the House You Can Afford as Mortgage Rates Hit 7.32%

Michael Burry posted a short list of life rules for a 26-year-old on October 17, including advice to buy half the house you can afford and rent anything that flies or floats. He also said to never gamble, lean on the power of compounding, and keep learning.
The timing makes the advice hit harder. The average 30-year mortgage rate is 7.32% as of October 22, up from 6.19% a year earlier. Fannie Mae now expects the 30-year rate to average 7.4% in the fourth quarter and 7.5% through 2027, while the Mortgage Bankers Association sees slightly lower rates, but still above 7%.
The gap between paychecks and prices is wide. Redfin found a buyer needed to earn about $109,796 a year to afford a typical U.S. home in June, while the typical household brought in $87,599, a shortfall of roughly $22,000. In San Francisco, a buyer needed more than $450,000 a year in income to afford the median home, according to Quartz.
Buyers are reacting. NAR's pending home sales index fell 7.3% in September to its lowest reading since the series began in 2001, with contract signings dropping in every region. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said market conditions weakened due to fast-rising mortgage rates. Sellers offered concessions in 44.7% of U.S. sales in August, the highest August share since at least 2020.
The median first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old, a record high, based on NAR data. Redfin found that 55.4% of millennials owned homes in 2025, compared with 27.1% of Gen Z. About 22% of young adults moved back in with family before buying their first home.
Burry's caution extends to markets. In a September post, he argued that Big Tech's AI commitments have grown so large that "a relatively small write-off has a bigger impact than we can now imagine," with write-offs arriving in 2028 or 2029. He has disclosed short bets this year against $NVDA, $TSLA, $MU, and a leading semiconductor fund.