> Without a mortgage system, at most a few years of saving to fully buy a house. Bizarre statement. You should look at the cost to build a house. And the cost

> Without a mortgage system, at most a few years of saving to fully buy a house. Bizarre statement. You should look at the cost to build a house. And the cost of maintenance. Builders don't make obscene profits. You can cherry pick good years, but you need to average over 10-20 years. You can buy an older/used house for significantly less than its replacement cost. Are you arguing that without the mortgage system, skilled trades would work for lower wages? Labor is 70% of the cost of building a house. Materials are 25%, Paperwork is 5%. Would lower wages for skilled trades be a good thing? For whom? Land cost varies from almost 0% to more than 100% of the build cost, depending on location.