¡Hola, Homeownership! Hispanic Households Hit New Highs

¡Casas para todos! Homes for all Americans! With 9.8 million Hispanic households currently owning their homes, Hispanic homeownership hit a record high in 2024. For the second straight year, Hispanic households experienced the biggest rise of any racial or ethnic group, with a net gain of 238,000 new homeowners in the most recent year.

The 2024 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report was published by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the largest Latino business association in the country. The research offers data-driven insights into the trends of Latino homebuying, including the challenges they encounter and the solutions required to maintain the surge in homeownership.

For the first time in ten years, the Hispanic homeownership rate fell in spite of this significant achievement. The rate of Hispanic household formations is exceeding the expansion in homeownership by a ratio of three to one, despite the fact that more Hispanic households already own homes than ever before.

“People aren’t getting the raises the way that home prices are appreciating in the Northeast,” said Fernando Ospina, a mortgage originator in New Jersey and Las Vegas. “Now, you still have appreciating market value and an increasing rate environment. It just makes it less affordable.”

Homebuyer Trends & Figures — National

Dallas, Texas

The top five states with positive net migration:

  1. Texas: 128.9K
  2. North Carolina: 30.0K
  3. Georgia: 27.7K
  4. Washington: 22.9K
  5. Ohio: 14.6K

The top five states with negative net migration:

  1. California: -58.6K
  2. New Mexico: -36.2K
  3. Arizona: -30.7K
  4. Massachusetts: -29.7K
  5. South Carolina: -20.5K

Los Angeles, California

Hispanic Households Looking to Buy Outside of Traditional Latino Neighborhoods

Home prices have risen by 47% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and 5% in the last year. Aspiring homebuyers are being forced to relocate from pricey cities to more reasonably priced areas of the nation due to skyrocketing housing prices. With the arrival of 128,900 new Hispanic residents, Texas has surpassed all other states for the third consecutive year. Furthermore, consumers are increasingly choosing markets outside of the typical Latino hotspots. Newcomers are finding more inexpensive housing options and lively neighborhoods where homeownership is achievable in places like Pittsburgh, Wichita, KS, and St. Louis.

New Hispanic residents are drawn to Texas, which continues to be a top opportunity market. Latinos are still moving to other, more affordable regions of the nation from traditional coastal strongholds like California and Florida. With a rise of 128,900 individuals year-over-year, Texas has experienced the biggest net gain in Hispanic residents for the third year in a row. Although significant, this pattern is not new; for nine of the previous fifteen years, Texas has had the biggest migration of Latino residents of any state.

“Latinos are ready to buy, but you can’t buy what’s not for sale,” said NAHREP Co-Founder & CEO Gary Acosta. “Tight inventory, record high prices, and new regulations worsening affordability are making it even tougher for first-time buyers to compete. However, Latinos aren’t backing down—homeownership remains at the heart of the American Dream. That’s why NAHREP is advocating for policies that ensure more families have the opportunity to achieve it.”

The urgent need for targeted action on industry regulations, loan availability, and affordability is emphasized in the report.

More than 400 NAHREP members met with elected officials on Wednesday, March 26th, to talk about the following topics:

  • Housing Affordability – Expanding affordable housing supply through tax incentives and zoning reform.
  • Access to Credit – Modernizing underwriting standards and embracing alternative credit scoring models.
  • Industry Best Practices – Addressing unintended consequences of broker commission rule changes.
  • Macroeconomic Issues – Advocating for a more substantial construction workforce, including immigration reform​.

“This report not only reflects on the past but also offers a glimpse into the future,” Acosta said. “Hispanics are driving growth in the workforce, household formations, and new business creation in the country. The data indicates that the growth of Hispanic homeownership will be limited only by the industry’s ability to meet demand.”

There have been steady advancements and continuous obstacles on the Hispanic community’s quest to increased homeownership. Per the report, Latino homebuyers—whose median age is 31—are expected to dominate the homeowner market for many years to come. Future growth is, however, threatened by affordability-related issues such growing property prices, stagnant income, high borrowing rates, and a shortage of available housing.

The relative youth of Hispanic households is a significant contributing factor to this growth. Compared to only 32% of non-Hispanic homes, nearly half (8.5 million, or 44%) of Hispanic heads of household are Gen Z or Millennials. The number of Hispanic homes will keep rising as young Latinos grow into adulthood. 1.2 million Latinos reached the age of 18, or more than 3,000 per day, in 2024. Given that roughly one-third (30%) of the population under the age of 18 is Latino, high household formation patterns are probably here to stay.

Policymakers and the housing sector must place a high priority on extending loan availability, boosting housing supply, and resolving labor shortages and rising material costs in the building sector in order to guarantee ongoing homeownership options for all Americans.

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Picture of Demetria C. Lester

Demetria C. Lester

Demetria C. Lester is a reporter for MortgagePoint (formerly DS News and MReport) with more than 10 years of writing and editing experience. She has served as content coordinator and copy editor for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Orange County Register, in addition to 11 other Southern California publications. A former editor-in-chief at Northlake College and staff writer at her alma mater, the University of Texas at Arlington, she has covered events such as the Byron Nelson and Pac-12 Conferences, progressing into her freelance work with the Dallas Wings and D Magazine. Currently located in Dallas, Lester is a jazz aficionado, Harry Potter fanatic, and avid record collector. She can be reached at demetria.lester@thefivestar.com.
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