When buying a home, should your house price be 3x your annual household income?

I read it on a website and wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

You also have to consider the fact that if your payment is 3X your annually income you are going to have to be able to put down 10% to 20% of that for a downpayment. Also, the respective property tax values on a property of that value etc. I would say the best way to figure out how much you can afford on a house is to calculate your monthly expenses and decide how much of a monthly payment you can afford. Do not forget all the repairs, updates, and maintence costs that you will have to put into a house. Also, the more expensive ultilies. Once you've got a monthly payment range that you are comfortable with, then start figuring out how much you can afford to put down. That might lower your range a bit. Good luck!

At absolute most - less than that is better.

That 3 times your income is the rule of thumb. But the correct answer is the price of your home should be what you can afford to pay.

Shouldn't be MORE than that.

Buying more home than you can easily afford is what gets many in trouble. Depends on your area, local real estate prices, your other debts and obligations, etc. For example if you have $100,000 student loans, going the 3X or 1/3 route makes a very tight budget. Another rule of thumb is about 1/4% of monthly income for housing and not more than 1/3 of monthly income for housing and related costs (utilities, maintenance, furnishings, repairs).