I tend to agree. The other point to consider is that if you are (for example) putting 30% of your salary in to a mortgage in a high cost high income area, you will have a much more valuable asset by the time you have paid off your mortgage than you would if you put 30% of your salary into a mortgage in a low cost low income area. In fact you may well have enough equity to fund a nice retirement in a cheaper part of the country.