(Bloomberg) -- Medical debts are more likely than other kinds to get in the way of Americans trying to buy or rent a home, according to an annual survey by real-estate data firm Zillow.
The survey found that 38% of people who owe money for health care said they'd been turned down for a mortgage or home rental because of those liabilities -- a higher rate of rejection than for other kinds of debt like student loans or credit cards.
While much attention has been paid to student debt as an obstacle to home-ownership among millennials, the Zillow survey found that about 1 in 5 would-be buyers in that age group are hampered by medical debt too.
Read More: Student Loans Prevent Nearly 20% of Millennials From Home Buying
Some measures show that U.S. housing affordability has been improving in recent years. But Zillow said that incomes aren't keeping up with the cost of buying or renting a home -- and that the growing debt burden Americans are incurring to pay for college or health care is making the situation worse.
The Zillow survey asked 13,000 U.S. adults who are household decision makers about their homes.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Holland at bholland1@bloomberg.net
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