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SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 (UPI) -- Millennials, especially those without a college education, are finding that they can't afford to buy a home despite low interest rates. Apartment List, in a survey of 31,000 renters across the nation, found 79 percent of millennials -- people aged 20 to 36 -- want to eventually purchase a home. Yet 77 percent said they can't afford one.
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It's especially difficult on the West Coast where more than 80 percent of millennials in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego say they cannot afford to buy.
The biggest hurdle is the down payment.
Younger college graduates without student debt will need about five years of additional savings to afford a 20 percent down payment for a starter home. College grads with student loans need about 10 years, and for non-college graduates, it's 15.5 years.
"It's really everywhere that people without college degrees won't be able to afford homes. They could be stuck renting for a long time," Andrew Woo, director of data science at Apartment List, told The Wall Street Journal.
In its study, San Francisco was the most difficult place to buy a home with 28 years needed to save enough for a 20 percent down payment.
Conversely, millennials in Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis need fewer years to save for a home.
According to the Apartment List, "Faced with stagnant incomes and rising home prices, many home buyers may have to purchase at increasingly high debt-to-income ratios, heightening the risk of mortgage default. Other millennials may have to migrate to more affordable cities and suburbs, or delay marriage and having children."
Less than 40 percent of millennial renters say they are delaying homeownership because they are waiting to settle down or be married. Six percent say they plan to always rent.
The 2016 study covers 93 metropolitan areas and 130 cities across the United States.
Homeownership rate for households headed by someone under 35 years old fell to 34 percent in the first quarter of this year, the lowest level since at least 1994, according to U.S. Census data.
A study last fall by Zillow found that a couple with no student loans and at least one bachelor's degree between them have a 70 percent chance of owning a home in their early 30s.
Interest rates are near historic lows. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage Monday was 3.64 percent, according to Bankrate.
The Apartment List renter survey was conducted from November 2015 to February 2016 and sent to renters searching for an apartment on its website. Apartment List's website aggregates apartment listings from sources on the Internet.
