An analysis conducted by RealtyTrac showed the debt consumers carry into the home buyingprocess was a bigger obstacle to getting a mortgage that can besold on the secondary market than coming up with the downpayment.

The real estate data firm said it analyzed price data from 522U.S. counties with a collective population of 235 million to seewhat would happen if the down payments for conventional mortgagesmoved from 20% to 3%.

Essentially, if down payments were lowered in those counties,would large numbers of consumers be able to buy homes?

The answer was yes, in some circumstances, but more often no,according to Darren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

“While lower down payments may help pave a quicker path tohomeownership for some prospective homebuyers, a bigger obstacle tohomeownership is the additional non-mortgage debt many borrowersbring to the table,” Blomquist said.

For borrowers without additional debt, monthly house paymentsare affordable in more than 90% of U.S. housing markets whetherthey make a 20% or 3% down payment, he added.

“But for borrowers with the additional debt burden of studentloans and car payments, monthly house payments are affordable inless than half of U.S. housing markets with a 3% down payment,”Blomquist said.

Lower down payments would likely speed up the process, henoted.

According to a report from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank,with a 5.6% savings rate, most consumers would take 12.5 years tosave up a 20% down payment but only two years to save up a 3% downpayment.

However, debt still maintained a lock on the process. Consumerswithout additional debt such as a student loan and a car note wouldbe able to afford a home with even a 3% down payment in 92% of thecounties RealtyTrac analyzed.

The firm found more than half of the counties or 52% hadunaffordable home prices for those with either student loans, carloans or both.

RealtyTrac also discovered that most consumers don't use themore than 2,300 down payment assistance programs that are availableacross the country and that an estimated 60% to 80% of homesmeet those programs' requirements, according to data collected byDown Payment Resource, an online real estate resource firm.

“The narrative is that it's too hard to get a loan today andwhen first-time buyers believe that, they won't even begin theirsearch. That hurts the overall housing market,” Rob Chranepresident/CEO of Down Payment Resource, said.

“Consumers, for the most part, have no idea that these programsexist, so they don't think to ask for them. Whatever your situationis, whatever you have for a down payment, you could be in a muchbetter situation if you find out you are eligible for one of theseprograms,” Chrane said.