my roommate was kind of freaking out a bit because he saw some report saying that rent for a single bedroom apartment would be $6000/month in 2045.

that's considering everything freezes in time exactly how it is right now. any projection for more than 5 years away is fucking useless imo. anything could happen between now and then. that's 20 years... think about the technological advancements that have happened in the last 20 years. think about how much society in general has deteriorated. how can you possibly predict what the price of rent is going to be?