Post-college life struggles delay housing recovery

Flip through any major news channel, click through links to a publication's website or if you're a fan of traditional newspapers, pick up the latest copy of any major publication and the headlines are the same: the housing market has finally gained momentum and is making a comeback.

The stories will include positive examples such as record low mortgage rates, a decline in foreclosures and rising home prices.

However, what the stories won't usually tell you is that those of us who are struggling with life post college aren't celebrating the success of the housing market just yet because, quite frankly, we literally can't afford to. 

According to recent data by ft.com, student loan balances have surpassed credit card use, auto loan and HELOC and there's no sign that the skyrocketing debt is going to make a downward trend any time soon. 

For instance, for the fourth quarter of 2012, student loan debt reached almost $1 trillion while the other non-mortgage balances posted relatively stable trends.

As a recent college graduate, I am personally battling with my wallet each month to pay off the amount of student loan debt that continues to weigh on my shoulders.

I know that I am not alone. The majority of my fellow colleagues in the editorial department here at HousingWire have discussed multiple times the toll student debt has taken on establishing our adult life. 

Similarly, millions of college graduates have witnessed the burden of steep student-loan debt levels while trying to adapt to adult life, which includes finding employment and purchasing a home.

But with the worst employment market seen in the past 20 years, how is one supposed to become a first-time homebuyer when the options to transition into the real world seem almost impossible?

The potential opportunites for first-time homebuyers are being robbed by the massive amount of debt that keeps piling up and as a result effecting the housing market for a fresh new crop of interested buyers. Thus, housing origination will continue to drag.

What we really need is for the upward trend in student debt to pump it brakes, put the car in reverse and make a U-turn back to stable levels if we are ever going to get a chance to see a sustained housing recovery.