Will Student Loan Forgiveness Lead to More Millennial Buyers?

Crushing student debt is often labeled as one of the top reasons millennials are struggling to become homeowners.

However, with President Joseph Biden announcing a plan to forgive some student loans, millennials are feeling more optimistic about their future as homeowners. Nearly 80% of millennials who have student loan debt said they would plan to buy a home in the future if their student loans were forgiven, according to Rocket Mortgage. For millennials who plan to purchase their first home in the next one to three years, 79% plan to keep this agenda, even if they have loans forgiven, needing more time to save for closing costs. However, 70% of millennials with student loan debt who had planned to buy in the next four to nine years reported they think they could buy sooner, as in one to three years, with student loan forgiveness.

While nearly 49% of millennials are homeowners, 56% of these homeowners are still making student loan payments. Additionally, 49% of millennial homeowners purchased their home between 2017-2019, before a global pandemic upended the housing market. And yet, nearly 40% of millennials with student loans said they have not had the opportunity to become a homeowner. Of those who do not own a home, 96% want to become a homeowner and 36% said they are saving now to buy a home and 45% plan to start saving soon.

Despite these student loan debts, the report found that those with student loans are more likely to be a homeowner than those without. However, that brings into play socioeconomic factors, as well as race. The average millennial borrowed between $40,000 to $60,000 in student loans, and 83% think there should be some type of student loan forgiveness.