A new paper from the Federal Reserve suggests that exorbitant student loan debt is keeping young people from buying houses.

"We estimate that roughly 20 percent of the decline in homeownership among young adults can be attributed to their increased student loan debts since 2005," the Fed wrote in the paper.

Buying a house is a terrible investment. That said, a new paper from the Federal Reserve posits the reason young people are buying less than in generations past is not that they're smarter and savvier, but that they are more indebted.

What they're saying: "We estimate that roughly 20 percent of the decline in homeownership among young adults can be attributed to their increased student loan debts since 2005."