What you are looking for is pricing things in time spent to earn the amount of currency required. A salary basically converts time spent at work to currency. It is up to you to judge if paying a years worth of time in earnings is equal to one house or not. Then, it also depends if you are buying a house or an investment in the shape of a house. For another example, is a hundred hours working at what you are good at worth paying for a washer and a dryer, that saves you time spent on chores for the next few years?