Sure it will. That's a $1.2M house with 20% down. There are plenty of 2-3 bedroom 1200-1500sq ft houses around here in that range. Sure, it would be an average school district and maybe have a bit of a commute, but you can find stuff in that range for sure.
It would be $200K, but 20% is a pretty standard down payment. Yes, it would take a while to save up that much, which is why housing around here isn't affordable, but it's also pretty standard.
What does this have to do with the article about the couple living in NYC feeling average on 500k a year? In another separate market, in another region in the country... they'd pay more? OK.
Are you really sure about that? 60 000$ mortgage payment is probably more than 1 million in loan, and the property value can be double the loan (appreciation since they bought + initial payment outside of the loan). I don't exactly know the prices of houses but I guess 2 million dollar should buy you a house?
From another article with more details on this couple: "$5,000 a month in mortgage expense bought this family a ~$1,500,000, 3/2, 1,700 sqft apartment in Brooklyn a couple years ago."