I guess housing prices are a bit of an issue. But I think 500k+ for an apartment pretty much suggests either a large city/metro, or a large-ish apartment that y

I guess housing prices are a bit of an issue. But I think 500k+ for an apartment pretty much suggests either a large city/metro, or a large-ish apartment that you probably wouldn't be paying for alone. And if the interest doesn't drag you down too much (as it might at the moment of course), that n*100k apartment is going to become your property of multiple hundreds of thousands over the years, so it's not like it's only an expense. I get the interest costs, up front payments and general debt amounts can be overwhelming, though. > Can I ask which major city? Helsinki, Finland, so backwater on the European scale, large locally. I'd guess we probably have slightly lower salary levels than some major Western European countries (I'm in the same ballpark as you but senior positions can pay more), and a more or less similar cost of living (except that housing isn't quite as expensive as in major metros).