I don't know about the other countries, but "most" Norwegians are house owners (and therefore have pretty large debts, up to 6x their yearly income). The gover

I don't know about the other countries, but "most" Norwegians are house owners (and therefore have pretty large debts, up to 6x their yearly income). The government offers heavy incentives that promote owning a house/apartment, making renting long term a pretty bad economic option. If you plan to live somewhere for more than 2-3 years it's cheaper to own than to rent.