Geek ChartsThe Gold-to-Housing Ratio
How many ounces of gold it takes to buy the average American home, from 1970 to today.
| Year | Ounces of gold to buy a home | Average home price | Gold price per ounce |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 740 oz | $26,650 | $36 |
| 1971 | 692 oz | $28,100 | $41 |
| 1972 | 515 oz | $30,075 | $58 |
| 1973 | 360 oz | $35,100 | $97 |
| 1974 | 252 oz | $38,725 | $154 |
| 1975 | 264 oz | $42,525 | $161 |
| 1976 | 385 oz | $48,050 | $125 |
| 1977 | 368 oz | $54,350 | $148 |
| 1978 | 324 oz | $62,700 | $193 |
| 1979 | 235 oz | $71,900 | $306 |
| 1980 | 124 oz | $76,375 | $615 |
| 1981 | 181 oz | $83,175 | $460 |
| 1982 | 223 oz | $83,850 | $376 |
| 1983 | 212 oz | $89,775 | $424 |
| 1984 | 270 oz | $97,550 | $361 |
| 1985 | 318 oz | $100,825 | $317 |
| 1986 | 305 oz | $112,075 | $368 |
| 1987 | 285 oz | $127,575 | $447 |
| 1988 | 317 oz | $138,650 | $437 |
| 1989 | 389 oz | $148,125 | $381 |
| 1990 | 389 oz | $149,075 | $384 |
| 1991 | 407 oz | $147,275 | $362 |
| 1992 | 421 oz | $144,675 | $344 |
| 1993 | 410 oz | $147,475 | $360 |
| 1994 | 402 oz | $154,175 | $384 |
| 1995 | 411 oz | $157,750 | $384 |
| 1996 | 427 oz | $165,525 | $388 |
| 1997 | 528 oz | $174,875 | $331 |
| 1998 | 616 oz | $181,150 | $294 |
| 1999 | 698 oz | $194,675 | $279 |
| 2000 | 736 oz | $205,375 | $279 |
| 2001 | 779 oz | $211,050 | $271 |
| 2002 | 732 oz | $226,700 | $310 |
| 2003 | 673 oz | $244,550 | $363 |
| 2004 | 664 oz | $272,125 | $410 |
| 2005 | 655 oz | $291,275 | $445 |
| 2006 | 504 oz | $303,900 | $603 |
| 2007 | 446 oz | $309,800 | $695 |
| 2008 | 332 oz | $289,075 | $872 |
| 2009 | 277 oz | $269,350 | $972 |
| 2010 | 222 oz | $272,025 | $1,225 |
| 2011 | 168 oz | $264,600 | $1,572 |
| 2012 | 173 oz | $288,225 | $1,669 |
| 2013 | 228 oz | $321,650 | $1,411 |
| 2014 | 273 oz | $345,450 | $1,266 |
| 2015 | 302 oz | $350,450 | $1,161 |
| 2016 | 288 oz | $359,650 | $1,251 |
| 2017 | 303 oz | $381,150 | $1,257 |
| 2018 | 302 oz | $382,475 | $1,268 |
| 2019 | 273 oz | $379,875 | $1,393 |
| 2020 | 219 oz | $387,900 | $1,770 |
| 2021 | 252 oz | $452,675 | $1,799 |
| 2022 | 287 oz | $516,425 | $1,800 |
| 2023 | 261 oz | $507,125 | $1,943 |
| 2024 | 212 oz | $507,875 | $2,395 |
| 2025 | 151 oz | $519,700 | $3,432 |
| 2026 | 124 oz | $514,600 | $4,144 |
Today the ratio sits at about 124 ounces, a dead tie with January 1980 for the fewest ever recorded. Both lows were driven by gold spiking, not by housing crashing. The all-time high was 779 ounces in 2001. Gold was pegged by the government near $35 an ounce until August 1971, so the earliest years on the chart reflect a fixed price, not a free market.
What this means for you
Gold has never bought more house than it does right now. The buyers sitting at this same ratio in 1980 watched it climb from 124 to 779 ounces by 2001, so a strong entry point is not a guarantee of anything. If you decide to sell metal and buy, the proceeds are documentable mortgage funds. Building that paper trail cleanly is my job, not yours.
The lows on this chart came from gold spiking, not from housing crashing. In actual dollars, the average home climbed through every gold cycle shown here. Waiting for a dollar-price drop that history does not show is a hard plan to win. Affordability is something we improve through rate, program, and strategy.
Plenty of advisors and agents have clients sitting on 2024 to 2026 gold gains. Repositioning metal into property is a financing event, and large-deposit sourcing on a gold sale is a documentation puzzle I solve routinely. Send them over and I will handle the paper.
A note on reading this. This is education, not investment advice. The ratio has only visited this level once before, in 1980, which makes it a story worth knowing, not a statistical pattern you can lean on. Nobody knows where gold or home prices go next.
Sources: Home prices are the Census and HUD average sales price of houses sold (ASPUS), annual averages, with Q1 2026 as the latest reading. Gold is the London PM fix annual average, compiled by NMA from World Gold Council, Kitco, and LBMA data, with the 2025 LBMA average at $3,431.54 and Jul 9 2026 spot near $4,144. The ratio is average home price divided by gold price per ounce. Gold was pegged near $35 an ounce until August 1971.