If you're young and haven't inherited a property from your ancestors, chances are that you're forced to rent. Personally, I've been renting for over 6 years and have been living with my girlfriend for the last 4, sharing rent and utilities. Overall, we've both spent over €25,000 together, and after spending all this money, you're practically left with nothing and may be subject to looking for a new house at any moment.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is between €300 and €400 at best; thus, I was thinking that taking a loan is as costly as paying rent per month, but after 15-20 years, you end up with a house. My main concerns are the following: First, if you're in a long-term relationship like myself, you can never be 100% sure that you'll be with that person in 20 or 30 years from now, which might prevent you from opting for a loan. Secondly, you need to be certain that the location or city of the property to be bought is convenient for future job offers and so on. Thirdly, because a loan is a many-year commitment, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to afford the monthly payment 15 years from now.
On top of that, finding the ideal house as a renter is almost impossible; there's a lack of housing, and rents are extremely expensive and unreasonable at the same time. We had a difficult time finding a house recently, and it's far from ideal. There is now a new government-funded loan program that is about to start, funding up to 75% of the loan interest-free while the rest is funded by private banks and is subject to a relatively low interest rate. This led me to think about taking a loan and purchasing an average two-bedroom apartment, but I have the concerns that I voiced earlier.
Such a great question. There is no direct answer for this because the topic is entirely subjective on one's financial state. You have been forced to rent due to high costs due to inflationary pressure and other factors (that are entirely outside of your control, given your circumstances).
In the US Private Equity has done a full on rug pull on the housing market for the millennial generation and all generations before them. This is because they foresaw all of this coming. The collapsing of the banks, and all markets. They are smart, and ruthless, and it has always been their goal to make us their slaves.
I was fortunate to be ahead of the game and work hard in my early 20s to be able to afford a house 5 years ago. Now what I pay for my mortgage basically is what others are paying for rent living in an apartment. I hope to not come across as bragging, because I'm not. I'm glad that I listened to my wife because I wanted to continue to rent for the foreseeable future but was convinced otherwise, that and I wanted to make my wife happy.
Just know that you can overcome whatever the price is to buy whatever home you want, because today you're still breathing. You're blessed and your greatest assets are your heath and the ability to generate as much income as you possibly can overtime