Real estate economics – THE HISPANIC BLOG

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

When the housing market finally rebounds, Hispanic buyers will play a major role, according to a new report. Hispanics purchased 288,000 homes in the third quarter of 2011, accounting for more than half of the increase in owner-occupied homes in the U.S. during that period. Furthermore, the group is expected to account for 40 percent of the estimated 12 million new households expected to be created over the next 10 years. That’s according to a recent report by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). It’s a trend that will be driven by demographics, with Hispanics not only representing an increasing share of the U.S. population but a dramatically expanded share of the wealth as well.

“Despite recent losses suffered by Hispanics during the housing crisis, young Latino families that were unaffected by foreclosure or lost home values, are ready to enter the market,” said Carmen Mercado, president of the 20,000-member group. “When they do, they will have an exponential impact on housing sales.”

Increasing share of population, economy

The report notes that Hispanics have accounted for nearly half (44 percent) of U.S. population growth over the past three decades, and accounted for more than half of the real growth in the U.S. consumer economy from 2008 to 2011. It says that Latinos filled 60 percent of the 2.3 million jobs the U.S. economy added in 2011 and are expected to account for 74 percent of the growth in the nation’s labor force in this decade.

That’s partly driven by population – from 2000 to 2001, non-Hispanic whites in the U.S. had only 1.1 live births for every death, while Hispanics had 8.9 births for every death. Hispanics are also seeing higher levels of educational and professional attainment – high school graduation rates have been rising over the past decade, and nearly one-third of young Hispanics (32 percent) were enrolled in college in 2010, up from 22 percent in 2000.

Fastest household growth of any group

“New household growth will be substantially greater for Hispanics than for any other demographic group in the country,” said David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Banker‘s Association. “The need to recognize the most critical variables in housing type, price range, affordability, and mortgage product terms will be critical for all housing stakeholders — from lenders and realtors to policy makers — in order to ensure that the homeownership needs of Hispanics and other Americans are met.”

The study reports that Hispanics continue to have a strong desire to own their own home despite the housing crash still being a fresh memory and the uncertain state of the economy, with two-thirds of Hispanic renters saying expressing high aspirations for home ownerships.