There has been a lot written lately on how student loan debt is holding back the housing market’s recovery. The theory is that recent college graduates are not buying homes at the rate that they used to and it’s because they are saddled with the debt they accrued while in college. A new analysis from RealtyTrac, however, disputes this idea. The analysis, which looked at median home price and average student loan debt in 494 counties across the country, found that in 96 percent of them a graduate making the median income could afford a median-priced home. For the study, affordable was considered up to 43 percent of monthly income spent on a house payment. Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s vice president, said though the results show the vast majority of markets are affordable for recent grads with student loan debt, they have to earn 34 percent more than graduates without debt in order to afford a median-priced home. However, considering that there were 12 counties judged to be unaffordable with or without debt, the study’s findings mean nearly all represented markets could be afforded by young Americans making their area’s median income. More here.