The era of the Hispanic homebuyer is upon us, according to the 2011 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report released this week by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). The 36-page document offers an analysis of data on the Hispanic homebuyer market and points to youth, birth rates, household formation, rising purchasing power, labor trends, educational achievements and desire as key indicators that will make Latinos a major purchase force in the first-time homebuyer market. “Despite recent losses suffered by Hispanics during the housing crisis, young Latino families that were unaffected by foreclosure or lost home values, are ready to enter the market,” says Carmen Mercado, president of the 20,000-member group. “When they do, they will have an exponential impact on housing sales.” According to the report, demographic forces are aligning with Latinos poised to take center stage as a mega force in housing. Latinos filled 1.4 million or 60 percent of the 2.3 million jobs added to the economy in 2011, are expected to account for 40 percent of the estimated 12 million new households over the next 10 years, and their collective purchasing power is expected to jump 50 percent by 2016 — just four short years from now. Hispanic homeownership grew by 288,000 units in the third quarter of 2011, accounting for more than half the total growth in owner-occupant homeownership in the United States.
