Our own first-home ratios sat in the teens, and that is exactly why they make a lousy benchmark for buyers today. One of us bought a first condo years ago with a housing ratio in the mid-teens; a later purchase at a higher price, with a lower rate and stronger income, still landed around 18 to 20%. Those numbers reflect a very different affordability era, so they tell a buyer today very little about what to expect. The trend is the more useful piece. Mortgage origination data from ICE (formerly Black Knight) has shown first-time-buyer DTIs climbing toward the high end of what underwriting allows when affordability is stretched, up substantially from the low 30s seen in more affordable stretches. In practice we regularly see FHA files in the high 40s, running up to the 56.99% total-DTI ceiling an automated approval allows, and VA files higher still, because VA leans on a residual income test rather than a hard ratio cap. Well-qualified dual earners with strong incomes often still land in the low 30s. The number that actually matters is where your own file lands and how much cushion remains after the payment. That is what we map with you in the free Roadmap conversation, about 20 minutes, where we run your real numbers.