In the Litvishe circles the standard is 2/3 – girls side, 1/3 boys side, but there are always deviations. Parents like myself are pretty much forced into buying their children a dira, which is app. $225,000 and up in the newer out of town areas – Beitar, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Sefer, Elad, etc. The kids may get part of mortgage themselves, so you can do the homework. I’ve married two, and so far have gone into heavy debt with far less then the amount you mentioned, which to me is outrageous in itself.
