Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2019: Wave of Hispanic buyers boosts U.S. housing market
The homeownership rate for Hispanics has increased more during the past several years than any race or ethnic group, including whites. The rate, which hit a 50-year low in 2015, has risen 3.3 percentage points since then, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The overall U.S. homeownership rate bottomed in the second quarter of 2016 and has grown 1.3 percentage points since then.
The group’s homeownership has risen alongside gains in income and education and a growing familiarity with the U.S. mortgage market. The Latin community also has a large millennial population entering the age of homeownership. Hispanic home buying stretched from towns in southern California to rural Texas and suburban Minneapolis.
“The housing market would look very different today if it weren’t for a tidal wave of Latino home buyers,” said Gary Acosta, NAHREP’s co-founder and chief executive.
