This is why I’m wary whenever I see “top X% in the income bracket.” I think it’s misdirection, because if you can’t afford something, then you can’t afford it, regardless of how well off the statistics say you are. You can save for a down payment, and then interest rates and mortgage will obliterate you. So really, the scale for these things in terms of affordability starts somewhere beyond what you’re making - and most of the upper 20% I bet, and then extends onwards to the actual ruling/owner class.

So the metric we should use isn’t this. It’s something else.

I won’t speculate with the usual HN nonsense of armchair economists. I will say I remember Michael O’Church’s two ladder theory and I agree with it based on personal observations.

Is it expected to be able to save for an entire down payment in one year? It took me and most of my friends closer to 10 years.

If prices go down, which they probably won't in my city.

Also, Input everything in ETFs, as everyone told me.

I will probably escape to the countryside in a couple of years.

I'm actually not even eligible for a mortgage any more considering that interest rates around here are at 6,50%, which is more than the 30-year average.