Economists debate whether college debt is responsible for falling home ownership rate

Home ownership among Americans under age 35 hit the lowest level on record this year, just as college debt for graduates reached a new high. Whether the latter is driving the former is being debated among economists and policy makers. College students who took out loans will graduate this year with an average of $33,000 in student debt, up an inflation-adjusted 32 percent from 2007, new research shows. The home ownership rate of those under 35, meanwhile, has fallen to 36.2 percent, from a high of 43.6 percent in 2004.

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