I tend to agree, but the numbers aren’t that crazy. My rent in the Seattle area is $2500/month. I could buy a reasonably-nice house here for around $750k. If you have a $150k down payment (which isn’t unrealistic to amass over ~5 years on a nice tech salary), your mortgage payment will come out to ~$3000/month. That’s not chump-change, and it’s more than my current rent; but you’re getting a lot more for your money. The numbers get a lot nicer if you’re splitting them with a partner.
Am I jumping to make this particular financial decision? Nah. But it’s not wildly out of reach.
What about property taxes? Don't know about WA, but where I am property taxes are nearly half again as much as the principal and interest, so a hypothetical $3k (P+I) could be more like $4-4.5k in some areas.
I bought a $500k home in Pierce county, property taxes are 1.2% here vs .93% in King County. I'm paying about $6k/yr in property taxes and they would pay about the same +/- $1k for their $750k home.
Am I jumping to make this particular financial decision? Nah. But it’s not wildly out of reach.