Source/Credits: builderonline website

Rocket Mortgage’s survey was conducted in April, prior to the formal announcement of the student loan forgiveness plan by President Joe Biden. As part of the plan, the Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans and up to $10,000 in debt for non-Pell Grant recipients earning individual incomes of less than $125,000 per year. At the time the plan was announced, federal student loans totaled $1.6 trillion across more than 45 million borrowers.

According to the Rocket Mortgage survey, 39.4% of millennial respondents who took out student loans have never had the opportunity to own a home, in most cases not because of a lack of interest. Of millennial borrowers who currently rent or live with family or friends, 77% said they still have student loans to repay. Of this cohort, 96.2% of respondents reported wanting to own a home someday, with 35.7% actively saving for a home purchase and an additional 45.1% planning to start saving in the future.

Approximately 50% of survey respondents reported paying $199 or less on student loans each month. Millennials with a gross income between $75,001 and $105,000 per year said making loan payments was “easy,” while those earning between $45,001 and $75,000 said it was “difficult,” according to Rocket Mortgage.

Of millennial borrowers currently saving or planning to save for a home, Rocket Mortgage said the median reported home budget was between $200,00 and $399,999, with a median time frame to buy of one to three years. The budget of millennial borrowers was unaffected by the potential of student loan forgiveness, with many respondents reporting an aversion to debt related to purchasing a home.