>>>And yet there are some young people who are actually doing it. We just sold our house to a young couple in their late 20's. They have A+ credit and the deal is about to close.
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>Not sure of house prices in Akron, but in some places this would be almost unheard of unless you inherit wealth or win the lottery.
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>/update/ - apparently median house price in Akron is $60,800. I'm sure you have a much nicer place but even so, yep- a couple in their 20s who got through college without an extra mortgage each or if one of them is a decent tradesman who started earning at 16 and worked hard without being saddled with a college debt, should be able to stretch to this.
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> http://www.zillow.com/akron-oh/home-values/
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>This is something that will come as a surprise to some Europeans and Australasians: once you step outside Beverly Hills, Malibu, Manhattan etc etc there truly are OK places you can buy for $50K even in US cities of a million plus. We're not used to that.

Houses are cheap in the US. Almost 20 years ago I bought a brand new semi attached house with a garage for 120.000 euros ($140.000) and I had to spend another 20.000 euros for decorating it inside and the garden, pavements etc. And that was a house in a village in the countryside, not a city. I was in my 20-ties.
Nowadays the house prices have doubled, and it is a lot harder for a couple in their 20-ties to get the same type of house.

If you really want a 2500ft house on lets say 6000 ft of property, you'll have to bring in 500.000 euros. If you want to have that in a city, bring another 300.000