Home-purchase applications fell to the lowest level in a generation last week — and demand may be depressed even further when the pandemic-era freeze on student debt ends in October, according to a poll conducted by Pulsenomics LLC among more than 100 housing experts.
About 70% of student loan borrowers — amounting to some 30 million people — are 25-49 years of age, a time of life when many Americans typically look to set up a new home, perhaps as they get married or have children. That source of demand is likely to come under pressure as household budgets are strained by student loan repayments after almost four years of forbearance.