Dive Brief:
-
Within six years, Hispanics will account for half of all first-time U.S. home buyers, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development told the Associated Press on Monday.
-
“Hispanics truly are the future” of the housing market, said Julian Castro, who based his prediction on a 2013 National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals study, which said 40% of the 12 million new households that will form in the next decade will be Hispanic.
-
Housing sales, noted Castro, whose mother is Mexican-American, would benefit from an overhaul of federal immigration laws.
Dive Insight:
Rolf Pendall of the Washington-based think tank Urban Institute said a rise in Hispanic homeownership in the U.S. will depend on whether the first-time buyers can get mortgages in a tight credit market.