Student Debt Delays Millennials' Home Purchases by Seven Years

(Bloomberg) -- The typical student debt load for millennials in the U.S. is $41,200, surpassing their median annual income of $38,800. One impact of that burden: first-time home purchases are being delayed by seven years.

That’s according to survey results released Monday by the National Association of Realtors and the nonprofit group American Student Assistance. Only a fifth of millennial respondents own a home, with 83 percent of non-owners citing student debt as the reason they aren’t buying. Among those who do own, 28 percent said they’d sell their current home and purchase a better one, if not for student loans.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Taub in Los Angeles at dtaub@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus