It feels very much the same way here in the states, at least in Jewish neighborhoods. I live in the midwest which should be (and certainly IS) cheaper than the coasts but in the Jewish neighborhoods, prices of homes are twice what they are in other neighborhoods for the same home because of demand. :(

I hear ya though...seems like in Israel things should somehow be more equal.

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Just making sure you see this: http://community.livejournal.com/sca/691884.html

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Of course the fact that a bare bones downpayment in Israel is 30%.

Actually, that's incorrect. A bank will freely loan you up to 70%, true, but it is possible to get a lot more if you use a mortgage insurance, like AIG. The bank will offer you this option. So really you only need closer to 5% or 10%.

It does suck that the initial cost of buying a home here is so high, and might I suggest you also set aside, if you do ever buy, an additional twenty grand or so (shekels, not dollars) for various other costs and fees (it's crazy, I remember when I went to the bank to pay the fee to apply for the mortgage, there was a fee for paying the fee!) like the lawyer, appraiser, engineer, etc. But once you're past the down payment, the rest is great. If you get a good rate you're basically paying the cost of rent and 30 years down the line you own the place free and clear.

But in all honesty, I think most families that own their homes in this country are dual income. We have our mortgage set up so that it costs us less now, while Shawn is in school (and even though he's a full time student he's also holding down two part-time jobs), than it will further down the line when we both have incomes. As is as soon as my maternity leave is up I'm going to have to go back to work because there's just no realistic way for us to survive otherwise.

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Ideally that's what Bituach Menhalim is for. You pay into it for 6 years and get a big chunk at the end which is hopefully enough for a down payment. If your company isn't doing the matching 5% of your salary payments thing, ask if they can?

There's also grey market loans n' such.

On the bright side credit is really cheap right now (if harder to get :/ ).

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Since black market loans are: pay up or I break your legs, would grey market loans be Pay up or I break your thumbs?

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Uh...

I have a BA and work at a job in high tech that pays pretty well. That being said why is it that there is no way in hell that I will ever be able to save up a downpayment on a house.

I think we already talked about this. You are not in the situation you think you are.

You've ignored me about this rather a lot, or at least it seems like you did because you haven't responded to any of my comments about it.

Bottom line is - if the italicized line was the only thing that mattered to your situation, you wouldn't have posted what you just posted.

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