Hispanics poised to reinvigorate housing market

Minorities and immigrants will likely drive first-time homebuyer purchases and accelerate the nation’s housing recovery, according to a new report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

Population size, age and a greater propensity to be married, coupled with high motivation, are factors that will drive minorities’ demand for condominiums, smaller starter homes and first trade-up homes. The same factors are spurring growth among minorities for housing in the middle and middle-upper segments.

“The Latin boom has been forecasted for years but we are now seeing the front edge of it and it has the potential to help the nation’s housing system get back on track if we can create a safe credit environment for new buyers to get into the market,” said Carmen Mercado, president of NAHREP, a 18,000-member trade group. “Our report quotes data from a number of sources that highlight the fact that enthusiasm for homeownership in the Hispanic community remains as strong as ever.”

With more than $1 trillion in purchasing power (up from $951 billion in 2008), Hispanics are expected to lead the first time homebuyer market. Within the next decade, they are projected to account for about 40 percent of all new homeowners.

Thirty-four percent of Hispanics said they are likely to buy a home in the next three years, compared to 24 percent of all Americans, according to NAHREP. During the 1990s, the percentage of Hispanics owning a home rose from 42 percent to 48 percent — the fastest rate of increase for any population segment in the country.

Other potential growth of Hispanic homeownership comes from the Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of U.S. Census 2008 income data. It shows that half (50 percent) of Hispanic households earned more than $41,000 a year, with 30 percent earning more than $65,000 annually. Over the past decade Hispanic households who earned more than $100,000 per year grew by 125 percent to 3.7 million.