From Inman News Features
The National Association of REALTORS® released a report at its annual conference in New Orleans that examines the characteristics of America’s immigrants and how these characteristics affect their decision to buy a home in the U.S.
The report, “Housing Opportunities in the Foreign-Born Market,” outlines the eight factors that affect immigrants’ home-buying decision as age, citizenship, length of stay in the U.S., education and income, family composition and size, region of origin, location and home financing.The report found that homeownership rates for older immigrant households who have been in the United States for 20 years match or even surpass those of native-born households.
In addition, the report found that higher median income, educational attainment and smaller household size have helped sustain above-average homeownership rates for households from Europe, North America and Asia, compared with other immigrant groups.
Immigrants from Latin America and Africa were found more likely to be rental households and have below average homeownership rates for foreign-born households because they are likely to be younger or earning a lower median income, according to the report. However, the data show that every group’s propensity to own a home increases with the length of residency.
The report also found that the concentration of immigrants in metropolitan areas with high housing costs contributes to their lower homeownership attainment. In 2002, 71 percent of all new immigrants settled in six states: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas, indicating that the impact of immigration on housing activity tends to be regional.
The report was commissioned by NAR’s international operations committee and was written by NAR’s research division.