Anecdotally, when my wife and I were looking to buy a house, we stuck to a range of about ~2.5 times our annual gross income (and were adamant that we be able to put down a 25% downpayment).
The bank approved us for a mortgage that would have allowed us to buy a house around ~5 times our annual gross income. Suffice to say, I'm really glad that we didn't.
Excercising some frugality with respect to our house purchase has ensured that we're not "house poor", and are able to afford a few other luxuries in life (e.g., a second car, a trip every now and then, and so on). Also, it's not a bad idea to reserve some money in case disaster strikes.
The bank approved us for a mortgage that would have allowed us to buy a house around ~5 times our annual gross income. Suffice to say, I'm really glad that we didn't.
Excercising some frugality with respect to our house purchase has ensured that we're not "house poor", and are able to afford a few other luxuries in life (e.g., a second car, a trip every now and then, and so on). Also, it's not a bad idea to reserve some money in case disaster strikes.