I think you’re romanticizing the prior generation. Sure they could buy a house with a blue collar job, but they weren’t doing that in NYC or other top tier cities and they often lived in much smaller home. Maybe 2bed/1bath 1000 sq ft house for a family of 5.

My entire extended family struggled a lot when growing up in the 50-70s.

It’s easy to look back at those that lucked out and bought a house in a prime location in CA (before it was prime) and say how easy they had it. You’re just ignoring all those people who did the same in Ohio and Michigan and lost their jobs and have houses worth about the same as when they bought it (adjusting for inflation).

There are extremes at both sides of the spectrum - Detroit real estate plummeted, San Francisco real estate skyrocketed.

You're right to point out that there isn't one narrative that defines the prior generation. Some people lucked out, others didn't, but the reality is that on average (both median and mean) home prices have drastically outpaced wage growth for the past few decades, which is obviously unsustainable.

The best the younger generations can hope for is to eventually have enough wage growth to afford a home that hopefully holds its value.

Worth noting that [in the US] a large part of the previous generation ended up living in cheaper suburbs because of flight from urban areas, which also made those urban areas cheaper.