“$3000 a month??? That’s about the average gross household income in the US.”
If you check out many of these larger mortgages, $3200 is about average for PITI. That is just for a $400K property. $2,400 for principle and interest, $400 for property taxes and $200 for insurance. In many places near cities, especially in the northeast, that $4,800 property tax is closer to $12,000 in property taxes. Imagine paying $1,000 a month just in property taxes.
Notice how it always seems to be the most democrat-infested areas that suffer from enormously-inflated prices on property. That $400K property in central Kentucky would probably be around $150K. Maybe $200K near a city.