More than 44 million Americans hold nearly $1.5 trillion in student debt, and that debt is affecting the decision of millennials to buy homes.
Student loan company SoFi recently polled more than 1,000 millennials between the ages of 22 and 35 across the U.S. and found that 61% said they have delayed buying a home because of their student loan debt.
Similarly, a resounding 70% of respondents said they didn't believe believe the benefits of living in a high-cost city like San Francisco or New York City outweighed the cost of living. Julie Gans, an agent with Compass, says buying a co-op in New York City, which is generally more affordable than a condo, can be very difficult with debt.
"In the New York City market, unless the person is making a very large salary, it tends to be hard to purchase a co-op becauseco-ops like to see a healthy income to debt ratio," Gans says. "So having large student debt sometimes makes it impossible to buy in the New York market."
