Background: I have a friend who has helped me get a job and also just keep me less bored and lonely. He’s also my gym buddy. He does have a somewhat toxic personality, but I try and get along with people as much as possible. We both work together and he has a habit of jumping jobs less than a year of being hired. Often looking for new opportunities while training for his current position.

Lately he’s been trying to buy a house - something that he constantly talks about. Quite frankly, I do not care, but I do not want to outright say that.

Part of me is envious of him because as young as he is, he is still financially capable of securing a loan for home purchasing. The other part of me thinks it’s a bad idea to purchase a house right now with the market being as hot as it is with these interest rates. Either way, I do not want to constantly hear him talk about how he “needs to buy a house” or how I need to mark his words that he’s going to be buying one in the next 18 months.

I know that I will not suddenly change his mind and “be happy for him” nor do I really want to. Instead, how do I politely (or as politely as possible) tell him that I don’t care about him purchasing a house nor do I really want to hear about it?

I know I’m not the “good guy” in this necessarily, but that’s besides the point in my mind.

Edit: I’m just adding this to say that I’m not wanting to do this to be a prick, but more so because it feels like when people do this to others who obviously cannot afford it, it feels like it’s being rubbed in your face. Similar to a kid asking his not-well-off friend what kind of sports car his parents should buy him when he turns 16.