As I say though, I suspect you had a reasonable deposit, so it's not a fair comparison.

100% mortgage at the moment - I got the payment from my mums estate after we had bought the house...

Wish I lived in Germany then, I could afford to buy!

There are subtle differences. Germany has a higher savings rates so easier to build up a deposit. Also many traditionally used to build their family home. Germans also have higher wages on average yet the house prices are higher as well. It also has no bubble so need to worry about a price crash.

What? Which Germany are you talking about? I earn about half of what I was on in the UK. As I said, we got a 100% mortgage, so no deposit!

Yes, Germans usually want to build their own house. Although buying an existing house is becoming more and more common, purely because they are running out of land near the towns.

German house prices are, generally, much lower than the UK. Even in Munich, the most expensive town in Germany, the prices were only about the same as the farthest commuter belt from London. If you are paying a million or more for a house, you are getting a flogging mansion out in the countryside.

A normal family house in the commuter belt to Munich (150M²) costs around 300-400,000€.

Renting in the centre of Munich is expensive, a 60M² flat costs around 500€ a month (usually bedroom, living room, kitchen & bathroom). A detached house is very expensive, 150M² house with 800M² garden costs from around 2000€ a month up. Buying a house in München Haidhausen starts at around 120,000€ for a place than needs renovation, a newly finished house in Aubing or Allach costs around 400-500,000€. More towards town, the same size will cost from around 600,000€ to 1,000,000€, but that is fully renovated with luxury fittings (whirlpool bath, sauna, luxury kitchen etc. An 80qm flat in the inner ring costs from about 250,000€ up.

When you look at the area where I live, we have a nice, 120M² (plus cellar, which has bathroom, büro and party room, but the cellar space doesn't get included in the house size, so with the cellar, we are probably talking about 160M²), that cost about 140,000€, a brand new, built to your design, house will cost just under 200,000€ for the complete house.

Looking at London, Foxtons have detached houses of a similar size starting at around 600,000, going up to several million...

What unit is a qm? I thought at first maybe Qubic Meter, but that's not right at all

Quite massive I believe.

150 quite massives (150qm) = 1 standard house (1sh),I believe that is the usual equation.

Ahh, so about half a metric sh!t load then.

Indeed, although measurements differ when at sea.

Square Metre (sm), didn't translate from the German in my head!

I think that wages have been stable in Germany and UK wages have been rising higher partly because of higher inflation and because we have had that property bubble. It means that there has been pressure on wages from property. We have also had a boost as a result of the exchange rate. German prices look like they have been remarkably stable for the last decade. It has also meant that it makes long term planning much easier for businesses and banks.