In a piece for CNBC, staffer Annie Nova outlines the myriad ways student loan debt is preventing people from buying homes.
According to Student Loan Hero, a website for managing education debt, roughly 45 million people in the United States carry student debt and the average borrower owes more than $30,000. And according to the Federal Reserve, for every 10% in student loan debt a person holds, their chance of home ownership drops between 1 and 2 percentage points during their first five years after school.
"Student loan debt holders do want to own a home, that's part of their American dream," said Jessica Lautz, managing director of survey research at the National Association of Realtors. "It's just really hard to get there right now."
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) says that one-fifth of people with student debt who apply for a mortgage are denied because of their "debt-to-income ratio" – what a person owes versus how much they make.
Also, 8% of student loan borrowers are denied a mortgage because of their credit score, according to the NAR.
And most prevalent for many potential buyers is the challenge in saving enough money for a down payment. "It's challenging with student loans to be able to put together $40,000," said Grant Simmons, vice president of search marketing for Homes.com.
An NAR survey shows 85% of student loan borrowers say difficulty in saving has delayed their ability to buy a house.
Student debt could hold back economic growth, Fed chief says from CNBC.
Read More
