Yeah I also live in Germany and housing affordability is much much worse than in the USA. The ratio of the median income to the median housing cost is significantly worse: https://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/rankings_by_count...

Renting in the US also is very cheap outside of cities. You can rent in New Jersey and take the train into NYC, or rent in Vallejo and take the train into San Francisco. Over all the income/rent or mortgage ratio, in my experience having rented and purchased in both countries, is much more favorable in the US. Quality of life is a different story.

> The ratio of the median income to the median housing cost is significantly worse

You're again quoting income vs the price to buy property. You're arguing against a strawman with that.

The argument is about the cost to rent, combined with the monetary and opportunity cost of commuting associated with that.

It was easier for me to find a rental in NYC than in was in Berlin so I wouldn't really say Germany is ahead there either. Maybe if you got a rental 10 years ago? German rental markets are price-controlled which means extreme shortages because... surprise surprise... Germans don't build either.