That may well be true. But it never does anyone any good to make assumptions without all the facts.
Maybe he was just under conforming because of past credit issues that are cleaned up, but not quite old enough to pass Fannie muster? Maybe he had $40,000 down (that’s 10% and more than sufficient down payment.)
Also doesn’t mention what his wife’s job is.
It’s quite possible he can’t afford the place. It’s also quite possible he can.
That's probably something we'll disagree on. I'm guessing we'd probably disagree on ratios, as well.