An insufficient income, a lack of savings, debt, or poor credit are the lead factors preventing renters from considering a home purchase, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, most renters considered that buying a home in their neighborhood would be a good investment.

The study-authored by Andreas Fuster, Basit Zafar, and Matthew Colli of the bank's Research and Statistics Group-was published on the bank's "Liberty Street Economics" blog. The study says the homeownership rate has declined from 69 percent in 2013 to 65 percent in 2014, with a sharper drop in the number of younger homeowners.

Both renters and owners were asked about how likely they would be to move in the next year or three years, and how likely they would be to own a home if they were to move within three years. Respondents were asked to rate this likelihood as a percentage.

Renters were more likely to consider a short-term move, with an average likelihood of 41.9 percent of moving within a year and 62.9 percent of moving within three years. Owners said on average that they had only a 12 percent chance of moving within a year and 22.4 percent chance of moving within three years.

However, owners overwhelmingly said they would plan to buy a home if they were to move within three years. Owners who responded had an average likelihood of 74.6 percent of purchasing a home, compared to only 43.7 percent for renters.

Any renter who gave a less than 60 percent chance of buying a home was given a list of reasons for not considering a purchase and asked to choose any that applied to them. A total of 55.7 percent said they did not have enough money saved up or had too much debt to consider purchasing a home, while 52.7 percent said they did not make enough money to afford a home. The next most common reason for not considering a home was credit, with 41.4 percent saying they did not think their credit score was sufficient for a home purchase.

Renters with higher incomes said they were more likely to consider purchasing a home, with renters making more than $55,000 a year averaging a 57.3 percent probability of buying. This average fell to 42.6 percent for renters earning $25,000 to $50,000 and 31.4 percent for renters making less than $25,000.

The study also found that the probability of buying increases steadily as a renter's perceived access to credit increases, but that few respondents considered that it would be very easy to secure a mortgage. Of the respondents, 31.7 percent thought it would be very difficult to get a mortgage and 35.8 percent said it would be somewhat difficult; the likelihood of buying averaged 32.9 percent for those who thought it would be very difficult and 41.1 percent for those who thought it would be somewhat difficult. By contrast, only 5.5 percent of renters thought it would be very easy to get a mortgage but these had an average probability of buying of 65.6 percent.

The other top reasons renters gave for being reticent about a home purchase were not wanting to handle the upkeep of a property (28.6 percent), not wanting to be tied down to a certain area (24.1 percent), considering that it was more affordable to rent than to buy (23.6 percent), not wanting to tie up money in a house (18.7 percent), age or health reasons (16.7 percent), the ability to live in a nicer neighborhood or house by renting (13.8 percent), concerns about their spouse's job security (12.8 percent), concerns that they would not spend a long enough time in the home (10.8 percent), and concerns that home prices will fall (7.9 percent).

The study says a renter to homebuyer transition is important for a healthy housing market because renters tend to make up first time homebuyers and this group has historically accounted for 30 to 50 percent of all home sales. In addition, new home purchases help drive a turnover in properties and housing prices.

Renters and owners had similar opinions on whether housing in their zip code was a good investment, with most considering purchasing a property to be a wise decision. Most considered it a "somewhat good" investment, including 44.4 percent of owners and 41.4 percent of renters; 17.2 percent of renters and 14.2 percent of owners thought it was a "very good" investment. Renters were also more optimistic than owners on their expectations for growth in home prices.

Among renters, 9.6 percent thought owning property in the area was a "somewhat bad" investment while only 2.3 percent thought it was a "very bad" option. Owners had a higher rate of "somewhat bad" respondents at 10.7 percent, but only 1 percent considered it a "very bad" investment.

The study's authors suggest that an increased rate of homeownership will likely correspond with an improved economy and relaxed credit standards. However, they also say that some renters may still consider that their credit is inadequate for a mortgage and that lenders would assume more risk by approving more borrowers with lower credit scores.

The survey collected data from a New York Federal Reserve Bank survey on consumer expectations. The responses were filed in February by 867 homeowners and 344 renters.