“It will be enough for us to start talking realistically about purchasing a home,” said Dara Zucker, 28, of student loan forgiveness.
Zucker and her fiancé have been looking for a house in Tampa, Florida. They budgeted $250,000 for a 1,400-square foot home, but between the unpredictable housing market and her $38,877 student loan balance, “we had to put that on hold.”
If $10,000 of her debt is forgiven, as expected, “I think it will become more realistic,” she said.
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Borrowers could see ‘an extra $150 to $300 a month’
The burden of student loans has been blamed for holding Americans back from buying homes, starting families and saving for retirement.
Now that the Biden administration has wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in education debt and proposed a new income-driven repayment plan that could cut monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans, many borrowers will have lower monthly payments, or none at all.
This “gives borrowers a chance to achieve their goals,” said Jaylon Herbin, a policy and outreach manager at the Center for Responsible Lending. That’s particularly true for women and Black borrowers, who carry higher balances after graduating, he said.