Immigration & Its Impact on the Housing Market
There are many hot topics right now and immigration is definitely one of them. Whether we agree or disagree on what is going on at this moment, the history of immigration starting around 1600 shows us the United States has been a country that always received immigrants. Several organizations have done research on the impact immigrants can have on housing demand. Let’s look at some of those results: Research done by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in 2012 states: “Assuming net immigration of 1.2 million (the low end Census Bureau projection for 2010) persists for 10 years, the model estimates that after 10 years new immigrants will:
- account for close to 3.4 million US households
- occupy more than 2 million multifamily units and more than 1.2 million single family homes
- account for more than 900 thousand homeowners”
The Research Institute for Housing America also projects “that from 2010 to 2020 immigrants will count for over one-third of the growth of homeowners and over one-quarter of the growth in renter households.”
Need for Continued Research
In this month’s edition of Fannie Mae’s Housing Insights, they source the American Community Survey in stating that there were 18.8 million immigrant renters in the country in 2012. Fannie Mae goes on to say that these numbers represent “a large reservoir of potential future homeownership demand”. They conclude with:
“Continued study of how these and future immigrants advance into homeownership as they reside longer in the U.S. may provide valuable insights into future prospects for the country’s housing market.”
A More Localized Look at the Impact
For those looking for local data, a research study performed by AS/COA and Partnership for a New American Economy, provides an interactive map showing “the net change in a county’s immigrant population from 2000 to 2010 and the corresponding effect on median home values.”
Bottom Line
If we look at the conclusions made by multiple sources, we see that they agree that immigrants will revitalize less desirable neighborhoods and support the housing market. Each group is seeking greater economic opportunities just like the immigrants in past decades that came to United States. The question is: are we prepared to help them with their real estate needs?
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