It's really not a lot in the D.C. area, or probably big pieces of the East Coast, Chicago, L.A. or other places. It sounds like a lot...but it's just not. We moved in 1993 making a little more than that...and it was tough even with a budget.
The guy probably had no business buying anything at that salary.
What they don't tell in this article is that most of these folks bought through Latino agents, at least here in the DC area. There were Latino agents raking in the dough by telling these "immigrants" that they would have to pay full price plus. I am an agent in Virginia and I saw it first hand. If they wan† to live here and prosper, someone forgot to tell them that they must learn the language. I ran out the foreclosures in the D C area and yep most of them have foreign last names. I do not think that I could go to another country, buy something, not pay for it and use ignorance as an excuse. If you know where I could do it, please let me know.