More than half of new homeowners in the U.S. are Latino, according to new Census data for the third quarter.
Accounting for 53% of new households, the number of Latino owner-occupiers increased from 6.21 million in the second quarter to 6.49 million in the third quarter. Latinos are taking advantage of low prices in the housing market, says Alejandro Becerra, Housing Consultant and former Senior Housing Fellow at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
“We have to give due cause to Hispanic real estate professionals, to the many nonprofit groups out there that are trying to put into place the foreclosure prevention programs to… help new homebuyers,” Becerra said.
The new numbers are also evidence of the potential purchasing power of Latinos, which can help turn around the housing slump.
According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the purchasing power of Latinos has more than doubled in the past ten years. Additionally, Ernie Reyes and Gary Acosta, the co-founders of NAHREP believe home-buying among Latinos will increase as the market becomes more stable.
“Hispanics are now helping struggling local economies across our nation through population growth and purchase power. We believe these same dynamics will be a driving force in the resurgence of the housing market in the near term,” said NAHREP President Carmen Mercado.
[…] More than half of new homeowners in the U.S. are Latino, according to new Census data for the third quarter. […]