Thread: Builders to benefit from targeting immigrant homebuyers

Builders to benefit from targeting immigrant homebuyers

By Mary Tyler March
• April 13, 2017

Dive Brief:

• Immigrants to the U.S. want to buy into single-family homeownership and are more likely to do so the longer they are in the country, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing.
• This group typically looks to suburban markets for jobs and a lower cost of living. As a result, the suburbs are home to high- and low-income immigrant households.
• In addition to purchasing new-construction properties, immigrants are also likely to consider existing homes — a category in which sales are expected to increase as baby boomers downsize.

Dive Insight:

The ULI found that immigrants helped the U.S. housing market recover more quickly following the Great Recession as they increased demand for housing in some of the hardest-hit areas, like Buffalo, NY. As it stands, immigration policy will likely influence the overall housing market and its continued recovery.

A recent report by Trulia found that 18% of all foreign-born households owned a home within five years of moving to the U.S., while 59.1% owned their homes within a decade. That’s just under the national homeownership rate of 63.7% in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Immigrants from Latin America stand to be a key driver of housing activity. The number of Hispanic homeowners has grown by 2.8 million since 2000, compared to an 85,000-person drop in non-Hispanic owners during that time, according to a March 2016 report from the Hispanic Wealth Project and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. The demographic is expected to comprise more than 50% of U.S. household formations between 2020 and 2030, according to the Urban Institute.

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http://www.constructiondive.com/news...buyers/440387/

Recommended Reading:

• Urban Land Institute
• Immigrants’ Strong Desire for Homeownership Will Shape U.S. Housing Markets, Says New ULI Report, ‘Home in America: Immigrants and Housing Demand’

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Who do you think is financing those homes????