Ha, I totally fell for the thread title hoping for some anti-aging advice . I am thoroughly frustrated with the horse market and I have what I consider to be a decent budget. But I disagree that we are definitely in the new normal. We might be, but there is too much uncertainty right now to state it as fact. People might be done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done impacting the economy and the financial markets, and nobody can predict where it will go.
I would argue that a subset of horse-buyers feel wealthier on paper than ever given the huge run-up in the stock market and home equity in just the last two years. A correction in either the stock or housing market, or worse, both, could considerably change peopleās perceptions of their wealth. Itās not out of the question given the Fed is practically shouting they will raise rates rapidly this year to try to combat inflation. There is still a lot of stimulus money sloshing around, and the future of remote work and commercial real estate is unclear.
Obviously I am not talking about the people for whom 5 figures is a drop in the bucket, rather I am thinking of people who are sensitive to a price differential of 20-40K in what is essentially a sunk cost (which is still incredibly fortunate). My guess is there are far more horse buyers in the second bucket than the first.