5 Reasons That Hispanic Homeownership Will Define Housing's Future

5 Reasons That Hispanic Homeownership Will Define Housing’s Future

by Peter Thomas Ricci

April 06, 2015

The numbers could not be clearer: Hispanics will play a greater and greater role in the U.S. housing market.

Hispanics are growing in prominence in the United States, and in few areas will they have a more pronounced impact than housing.

That was the main finding of “The 2014 State of Hispanic Homeownership,” a detailed new report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) that analyzes both Hispanics place in the U.S. and, by extension, the housing market.

Below, we’ve spotlighted the five most important findings of the report:

1. Hispanic Homeownership – Since 2000, the number of Hispanic owner households has increased from 4.242 million to 6.810 million, a rise of 60.54 percent; in just the last four years, in fact, Hispanic owner households have risen 614,000.

2. Hispanic Households – When we extend our parameters to overall households, the numbers are even more stunning. In 2014, the number of Hispanic households grew by 320,000, or 40 percent of total U.S. household growth.

3. The Hispanic Population – Since 1970, the Hispanic population has increased by 592 percent. No, that is not a typo! Even more, the Hispanic population is expected to reach 120 million by 2050, more than double what it is today.

4. Hispanics in the Labor Force – Thus far in the new millennium, Hispanics have accounted for 65 percent of the growth in the U.S. labor force, and every year, one million U.S.-born Latinos enter adulthood; with numbers like that, it’s no surprise that Hispanic purchasing power is $1.5 trillion, and is projected to grow to $2.0 trillion by 2020 (that’s an increase of $500 billion!).

5. Hispanics in Housing – Sixty-five percent of top agents NAHREP surveyed expected 2015 to be a “breakout year” for Hispanic homeownership, but NAHREP’s report pulled no punches on the considerable barriers that remain for homebuyers, among them a lack of affordable housing, competition from cash investors and tight lending standards – problems will have to be overcome before homeownership can truly take off.