In 2022, 48.6% of Hispanic families owned homes. Each year, Hispanic homebuyers make up a larger percentage of the total home-buying population. 349,000 Hispanic buyers purchased a home in 2022. 2023 is poised to add even more buyers to that statistic.
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) releases a report on the state of Hispanic homeownership each year. This report tracks the changes and trends in the demographic data.
Hispanic homeownership by the numbers
According to the report, “Latinos are more likely to live in multigenerational households, where the pooling of economic resources makes homeownership more attainable in a market impacted by affordability challenges.”
In the U.S., the South and West have seen the highest influxes of Hispanic homebuyers. Meanwhile, areas in the middle of the country and the East coast have seen their Hispanic populations decline. Unfortunately, many of these southern states and cities that are popular among Hispanic homebuyers are also the areas that have seen the most home price appreciation. Florida, South Carolina and Georgia have all experienced home price appreciation of more than 13%. Their Latino population has increased by 8,000, 15,700 and 71,700 people respectively.
Agents in these markets can prepare for the influx of Latino homebuyers in the coming years. An increasing number of Latinos — 7.9 million — are reaching prime home-buying age. They have the resources to be considered “mortgage ready.”
Serving the community
Adding certain capabilities to your business like bilingual office workers or Spanish translations of paperwork or websites could attract the growing home-owning Hispanic demographic.
Being “mortgage ready,” is a combination of factors including debt-to-income ratios, credit scores and downpayment savings. Latinos have been improving the demographics’ average credit score throughout the years. When sitting down with Hispanic homebuyers — especially first-time buyers — cover all of these basics with them. Your buyers may or may not have their mortgage pre-qualification or pre-approval letters yet. If you can prove your expertise by pointing them in the right direction, you’ll be more likely to win their business.
“While the 2022 housing market presented several barriers to homeownership, Latinos managed to increase homeownership rates with a net gain of 349,000 homeowner households and 628,000 newly formed households. 57 Nearly every participant in NAHREP’s Top Real Estate Practitioners Study mentioned the resilience of Latino buyers, their motivation, willingness to sacrifice, and overall grit that has led to nearly a decade of consistent homeownership growth,” said the report.
Agents representing Hispanic homebuyers must be advocates for their clients to find the right home at the right price. This advocacy is especially important in today’s challenging market. Higher interest rates equal less buying power, no matter the demographics of your buyers.
