I paid 2.5x my income for my current home (at the time I was probably making less than median). It was not that long ago and it’s in CA. California has not moved, it’s not in a better location of the planet than it was 10 years ago. If anything it’s worse than it was 10 years ago so property values should have declined. Of course it’s going to cost more in CA than in Kansas. But then again the median income is higher here too. People have gotten brainwashed into thinking $500k is a good deal for a starter home. BS, snap out of it, for $500k you should be able to buy a very nice home in a very nice area or a friggin estate in the IE.