Latinos Buoy a Sagging Homebuying Market

Minorities were hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis of the Great Recession. Latinos are now helping keep the housing market afloat.

1 minute read

July 15, 2019, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Hispanics are experiencing the largest homeownership gains of any ethnic group in the U.S., a turnaround for the population hardest hit by the housing bust that could help buoy the market for years," report Laura Kusisto and Ben Eisen.

"While Hispanics comprise only 18% of the U.S. population, the group accounted for nearly 63% of new U.S. homeowner gains over the past decade," according to the article, which is sharing data from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

The narrative built from these findings speak to a "growing population of young Latinos increasingly eager to buy homes." The optimism and growing buying power of Latinos is working to offset the effects of a slowing homebuying market. According to Kusisto and Eisen, "sales of existing homes have fallen on an annual basis for the past year."

The effect of Latinos entering in the market is fairly widespread around the country. According to the article, "Hispanic home buying stretched from towns in southern California to rural Texas and suburban Minneapolis." Of all the states in the nation, the largest share of Latinos homeowners with mortgages live in New Mexico.

Monday, July 15, 2019 in The Wall Street Journal

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