Hispanic households accounted for more than half of the nation's homeowners in the third quarter, evidence of the potential purchasing power of Latinos during the housing recovery.
According to Census Bureau data provided by Alejandro Becerra, former senior housing fellow at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the number of Hispanic owner-occupiers grew by 288,000 from 6.21 million in the second quarter to 6.49 million in the third quarter.
Of 545,000 new household units in the third quarter, 53% were Hispanic households. The remaining 47%, or 257,000 units, consisted of other minority groups and non-Hispanic whites.
"We have to give due cause to Hispanic real estate professionals, to the many nonprofit groups out the that are trying to put into place the foreclosure prevention programs to keep people in their homes, to help new homebuyers," Becerra said. "All this is beginning to bear fruit in reaching out to these households."
Minority households are taking advantage of the lower end of the housing market where, Becerra believes, prices have hit the bottom. "It's the only place where the possibility of buying is right now," he said. READ MORE
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