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Wow, it's interesting to hear that you guys are experiencing the same thing on the otherside of the world as us.
The wife and I are 30yo and worked and rented in Auckland (largest city in New Zealand) until two years ago when we moved back to her home town and bought. Pay rates in Auckland were 30-40% higher though so the pay cut sucked.
We bought a 10yo 1700ft 3bd 2bth with double garage on a flat 6500ft at the end of a culdesac for a little under US$330k and have spent around US$7k of updating. We went in with over 30% deposit and after 2 years now have 50% equity, and repayments of NZ$300/week (or US$1150/mth). Because we bought well within our means we can live on one income if we need to and i get to keep the S13 and keep taking it to the track.
We had the wife's uncle who is an estate agent in Auckland come visit and valued our place, if in Auckland and in one of the outlying areas, at high NZ$600's. Despite having over $100k in deposit after saving for 8 years we couldnt get a reasonable house in a reasonable area of Auckland. Housing in desirable places worldwide is spiraling so high, yet small town stuff seems to be staying the same.
But it was a good move in the end: it takes me 15min to get to work (as opposed to 45min), we are 1km from the beach, I'm closer to our country's best racetrack and the climate is way better.
My advice: work wherever you get paid the most and rent there, then when you want to settle down, move somewhere quieter and buy there as your deposit will get you more house and less loan.
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