• A new survey from the National Association of Realtors broke down why Americans are holding back on home purchases.

• The top three reasons included a lack of affordable inventory, high mortgage rates, and pricey homes.

• "Home buyers face the most difficult affordability conditions in nearly 40 years."

Americans have been holding off on purchasing homes in the current housing market because of a broad slate of reasons all tied to a lack of affordability, according to a National Association of Realtors survey published Thursday.

In short, the biggest reasons people aren't jumping into the market boil down to inventory, mortgage rates, and prices.

In a September poll of the real estate group's realtors, who spoke about buyers they worked with that haven't yet purchased a home, 34% said there were not enough homes available for purchase within their budget.

That was followed by 18% of respondents who said they were waiting for mortgage rates to drop, while 9% said they were waiting for home prices to decline.

"Home buyers face the most difficult affordability conditions in nearly 40 years due to limited inventory and rising mortgage interest rates," Jessica Lautz, NAR's deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. "The impact is exacerbated among first-time buyers who are more likely to be from underrepresented segments of the population."

Realtors also pointed out that house hunters cited saving for a competitive down payment as an obstacle, with participants noting that current rent and mortgage payments as well as credit card payments were holding them back.

"Down payment assistance programs often fly under the radar for potential home buyers," Lautz said.

Indeed, the housing market has been stuck for some time now, and economists see little relief ahead. The Federal Reserve's historic interest rate hiking cycle has pushed mortgage rates around a two-decade high, and that's made current home owners reluctant to move and risk giving up the lower rates they secured before.

Roughly one-quarter of US homeowners have mortgage rates of less than 3%, near the highest on record. And home prices, which typically fall as rates rise but haven't done so this year, are barely below all-time highs.

An August Redfin survey found that young people are facing particularly difficult prospects. Homes have become so expensive that 38% of under-30 buyers have had to rely on financial help from family, in the form of a cash gift or inheritance, to afford a down payment.

Plus, with student loan payments set to resume in October, roughly 5 million Americans will start paying $275 a month on average, eating into cost-of-living expenses.

"Under the assumption that total household income does not change by the end of student loan moratorium and the percentage of total income needed to pay rent also stays the same," Moody's researchers said, "the monthly reductions from resuming student loan payments will slash any financial buffers, forcing households to cut back on discretionary spending or face difficult housing decisions such as trading down from Class A to Class B/C rental units, or even having to share a unit with family or friends to avoid homelessness."

Read the original article on Business Insider