So anecdotal stories are more important to you than statistics from the US census bureau? For the record, the department does more than send out a survey every 10 years; the survey is like a recalibration for their statistics.
There are 3 primary factors contributing to the housing crisis:
Inflation
Low wages
Housing being treated as a commodity stock
These 3 issues aren’t the end of the story either, the opiate crisis, climate change, exclusionary politics, and many other factors are contributing to the housing crisis. The primary issue is that workers aren’t being paid enough.