Affording a Home

As Duncan and I move slowly towards marriage we are starting to think about a home, and a mortgage. Duncan came home the other day annoyed that others his age are able to purchase homes while we are not in the same boat. This has got me thinking, If I did not have a partner I would never be able to afford to purchase property.
Living in British Columbia is expensive. I live in the most expensive province to live in, which I don't understand. Actually I guess I do, the west coast is beautiful and I believe a lot of right folks like having a summer cabin on the beach, and there are a lot of beaches in the Okanagan. Which means all of us not-so-rich folk aren't so lucky.
My dream and I know Duncan's as well has always been to own a house, not an apartment or townhouse a separate house that you don't have to pay silly strata fees on. But it's looking like that's all we can afford. I would say Duncan's job pays pretty well and I add a little with my part time job.

I read that 25% of your income should be at most the amount you put towards a mortgage. Which is just so frustrating, that would mean we couldn't afford anything more then 150,000. Can I find a home in our city for that? Hell no! Maybe a condo, which we may need to settle, but I want stairs. Stairs make me feel like I'm successful.

So although we are not even close to actually purchasing property, the thoughts are still swirling around in our head, hopefully our parents can come out with awesome money we can put towards a GIANT down payment...or I guess we could win the lottery.