A price to salary ratio doesn't make a lot of sense because it ignores interest rates.
At today's interest rates, which are still historically low even though they increased last year, 3x is unusually conservative.
The better rule of thumb is to keep housing expenses under a certain percentage of gross income. 28% and 30% are common number that get mentioned in that context.
Why gross income and not net income? Because two people with the same gross income might have very different tax situations and their net income could be very different. So, of course you also need to consider what percent of your net income your housing costs represent -- these are all just rules of thumb.
At today's interest rates, which are still historically low even though they increased last year, 3x is unusually conservative.
The better rule of thumb is to keep housing expenses under a certain percentage of gross income. 28% and 30% are common number that get mentioned in that context.
Why gross income and not net income? Because two people with the same gross income might have very different tax situations and their net income could be very different. So, of course you also need to consider what percent of your net income your housing costs represent -- these are all just rules of thumb.