Debt and a weak job market have made it pretty difficult for millennials who are trying to buy a home.

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In fact, a recent Pew survey found that there has been a decline in the percentage of 18 to 32 year olds owning their own homes, just 34.3 percent as of March 2013. That compares to 36.1 percent in 2007.

"The millennials are the most eager and enthusiastic group of consumers out searching for homes and condos, but unfortunately because of the weakened job market, their income and their ability to afford a home doesn't match their enthusiasm and they're being shut out at every turn," said Amber Noble-Garland, Licensed New Jersey Real Estate Agent with Weichert in Marlboro. "Many of them come along with debt from college loans and credit card debt that they've accumulated in college."

For the first time in years, research shows that non-college graduates are contributing more to home ownership than college graduates.

"I attribute that to entrepreneurship. There are many self-employed people who are in a better position than some of these college graduates who are having a tough time finding a job," said Noble-Garland. "Young people out here are having a very tough time finding a job, much less building up a work history and an income that is substantial enough to have a bank feel comfortable enough to give them a mortgage."

The Pew survey found that 36 percent of college grads are moving home with their parents.

"Here, these twenty somethings are trying to be independent, they want good jobs, they want their independence and many of them are forced to move back home. That can have an emotional impact on them because it can make them feel very defeated," said Noble-Garland.

We have always counted on the younger people in this country to be the future leaders and with statistics like this, it could weigh heavily on the housing market in the years to come.

"Things are so off balance in terms of the economy and it does have a direct effect on the housing market now and in the future. I would encourage many of these recent college grads to think outside the box, get creative and think of creating their own opportunities," said Noble-Garland. "Get a part-time job, take a hobby and turn it into something you can earn a living at or blossom into a larger business."

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