You don’t think that 40 years ago people did the same? I remember my father buying a house for $30,000 (wow! So lucky) only to learn his home payment was over 50% of his take-home pay (oh, not so lucky).
Post college I lived in a small town in Michigan and saved up a down payment for a house in 2 years making less than $50k.
You can still do it, but not in the most desirable US cities.