Hispanic homeownership rate ticks up nationally for sixth year in a row, despite negative economic impact of COVID-19.
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) has released its 2020 State of Hispanic Homeownership report, and the data provide the first glimpse at ownership statistics encompassing the impact of COVID-related economic challenges. The main takeaway is that mortgage relief initiatives such as forbearance have apparently prevented any backslide in ownership rates thus far, at least for this demographic group. Hispanics were more likely than other ethnicities to have suffered job loss during the pandemic, so this is an encouraging indicator. As relief programs expire, much attention will need to be devoted to ensuring that Hispanics and others are able to keep their homes despite any lingering individual economic difficulties.
In Minnesota in 2019, Hispanics comprised 5.6 percent of the state’s total population. Nearly half of these households (49.47 percent) owned their own home. This compares with a national Hispanic homeownership rate in 2020 of between 48-49 percent. The national-level statistic has registered increases for six consecutive years now, making Hispanics the nation’s fastest growing segment of homeowners.
Other key takeaways from the report are the fact that nearly one in three Hispanics are in their prime home buying years (25-44 with a media age of 29.8), and the fact that there are already 8.3 million existing “mortgage ready” Hispanics across the country. All of this data adds up to a trend-related prediction that Hispanics will comprise fully 70 percent of new homeowners nationally over the next twenty years.
The full report is accessible on NAHREP’s website here. We look forward to continuing to play our part in bolstering the Hispanic homeownership rate here in Minnesota as mortgage relief programs wane and the economy begins to get back to a more normal state.