What's behind the spike in homeownership rates among Asian Americans, Hispanics

Juan Carlos López Flores purchased his first home last month.  

The auto mechanic in Las Vegas bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home for $411,000 for his wife, Maria Chavarría, and son, as well as his brother, sister-in-law and niece.  

Minority homeowners such as López have increased their rates of homeownership in the past year, despite rising mortgage rates, according to a new analysis of race and homeownership trends by the National Association of Realtors. Asian and Hispanic homeownerships have reached all-time highs. 

Black homeownership lagged behind other minority groups 

In its 2024 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America, based on U.S. Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey in 2022, the National Association of Realtors research staff found that: 

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◾ Asian household homeownership rose the most, with 63% of Asian households being homeowners.  

◾ Hispanic household homeownership had a considerable rise to 51.1% of Hispanic households. 

◾ Black household homeownership had the smallest increase, reaching 44.1%.

But there is still a large racial disparity between the percentage of minority homeowners and their white counterparts because of variations in income, education and access to resources. 

“Minority homeownership gained ground this year, with Asian and Hispanic homeownership hitting record highs,” Jessica Lautz, National Association of Realtors deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “While the gains should be celebrated, the pathway into homeownership remains arduous for minority buyers.” 

The report said that while the growth in minority homeownership rates has enabled progress in reducing the gap between various racial groups and white households, and the rates have shown a slight decrease in 2022, the disparity remains higher than it was a decade ago. 

The study also looked at homeownership trends by race in the past decade.  

Asian Americans had the highest increase in home ownership, gaining 6.1% in the decade, translating into nearly 1.5 million more Asian Americans owning a home. 

Hispanic homeownership increased by 5.4% for a gain of 3.2 million new homeowners.  

Coming in third over the last decade was the growth in white home ownership, which rose by 3.1%, or 65,000 more white homeowners in the last decade. 

Black homeownership increased by 1.6% in the last decade, with over 950,000 more Black Americans transitioning to home ownership, but the rate did not match the pace of other minority groups, the study said. 

The homeownership gap between white and Black Americans also slightly widened in the past decade, from 27% to 28%, according to the study. 

Fulfilling the American Dream 

López wanted to buy a home for his family’s future. 

“I was feeling for a long time that I was throwing my money away by renting and I finally decided I wanted to have something for my family,” López said through an interpreter.  

He searched for a home for seven or eight months with his real estate agent, Nora Aguirre. The family just got their keys to their home at the end of January. 

“Thanks to God I’m able to have something I can have for my family and for the future.” 

Strong headwinds for Hispanic homebuyers

The resilience of Hispanic homebuyers has been surprising and welcome, said Gary Acosta, the co-founder and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. 

“There are enormous headwinds out there,” said Acosta. There are inventory constraints, which are driving up prices and reducing affordability, he said. 

Many Hispanic homebuyers are also small-business owners, he said. 

“Getting self-employed borrowers qualified for mortgages has been especially tough in recent years,” Acosta said. Yet, even with those obstacles, the Hispanic homeownership rate has continued to climb, he said. 

Hispanics “have proven to be more resourceful and more willing to move where there are affordable housing and there are jobs,” Acosta said. In the past several years, that has predominantly been in the Midwest and some areas in the South like Texas. 

Hispanic immigrants – and most immigrants – come to the United States for economic opportunity, “and purchasing a home is at the pinnacle of that objective,” Acosta said. 

Asian American homebuyers value homeownership 

Homeownership among the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander sectors is the fastest-growing nationally, and they are the fastest-growing minority group, according to the Pew Research Center, said Jamie Tian, president of the Asian American Real Estate Association of America and a realtor in Los Angeles. 

Those groups “overall generally have good income, employment, education and higher credit scores – if they can get a credit score,” Tian said.

Many families live in multigenerational households until they’re able to save for a house of their own and many parents will also refinance their home or use equity to help other extended family members make a purchase, Tian said. 

While the Asian American community has done well with homeownership, Tian said, there remains a substantial gap in homeownership rates compared to white Americans, she said. 

Tian said her group is working to educate Asian American homebuyers on the importance of building credit and a good credit score. The Asian culture is generally against borrowing, relying on cash instead of credit, she said. 

There are also underserved communities and subgroups among Asian Americans and specifically, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders tend to have income and homeownership rates that are below other Asian subgroups, she said. 

Minorities face significant disparities in housing affordability 

Data in the report reveals significant disparities in housing affordability for existing homeowners across racial and ethnic groups. In Colorado, 41% of Black homeowners spend more than 30% of their income on housing, compared with 24% of white homeowners. 

As rental costs escalate, they compress renters’ disposable incomes and directly impact the capacity to accumulate savings for a home down payment, the association said. This challenge is acutely amplified among minority groups, which often face additional systemic barriers and disparities in income and wealth that further exacerbate their struggle toward achieving homeownership. 

Among Black homebuyers, 41% reported having student loan debt, the highest share of any group with a median amount of $46,000 – a record high. Twenty-nine percent of Hispanic homebuyers reported having student loan debt, with a median amount of $33,300. 

Black and Hispanic homebuyers also encounter additional hurdles in securing mortgages. Black (26%) and Hispanic (22%) applicants experience higher denial rates for mortgage applications compared to their white (16%) and Asian (15%) counterparts, according to data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. 

While Black and Hispanic applicants face greater challenges in obtaining a loan, those who manage to secure one also often encounter less favorable terms, receiving higher mortgage rates than white and Asian borrowers.

Among loans originated in 2022, 20% of mortgages for Black and 21% for Hispanic borrowers came with mortgage rates exceeding 6%. That contrasts with white (18%) and Asian (15%) borrowers’ mortgages having rates above that threshold. The average mortgage rates for Black and Hispanic borrowers stood at about 4.9%, compared with 4.8% for white and 4.6% for Asian borrowers. 

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Looking to the future of home ownership 

Racial and ethnic groups with a sizable portion of their population nearing the median age of homebuyers will likely lead to larger growth in homeownership among minorities, the report said.  

In the next five years, 1.5 million Black households are expected to turn the median homebuying age, along with 775,000 Asian households and 2.2 million Hispanic households. 

Buying that first home, and eventually selling it to purchase another, boosts homeownership for entire communities, Acosta said. 

“More than likely, if you're going to sell a property to move up to the next property, you're going to be selling it to somebody from a diverse population,” Acosta said. “So all of us benefit when we address the issues that are artificially keeping homeownership rates down, and we all gain when those homeownership rates increase.” 

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here.