HousingWireHousingWire
The U.S. Hispanic homeownership rate declined for the first time in a decade in 2024, to 49%, but more Hispanic households own their homes than ever before. This is according to the 2024 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report created by the National Association for Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).
The report concludes that the decline in the Hispanic homeownership rate was not due to a net loss of Hispanic households, but rather occurred because the rate of Hispanic household formation outpaced homeownership growth.
2024 saw 238,000 new Hispanic owner-households added for a total of 9.8 million households. According to NAHREP, this is the largest annual increase among any racial or ethnic group for the second year in a row, accounting for 35% of total homeownership growth in 2024.
“The elasticity of the Hispanic homebuyer market can be attributed to a willingness to relocate to more affordable regions of the country, innovative financing options and an unwavering desire to achieve the American Dream,” the report states.
The report notes that the median age of the Hispanic population in the U.S. is 31 — eight years younger than the general population. This demographic also buys homes younger than non-Hispanic groups and accessed resources for first-time homebuyers.
Hispanic homebuyers are also more likely to use FHA financing than their non-Hispanic peers: 29.5% of Hispanic homebuyers used FHA in 2024.
The report found that Hispanic homebuyers continue relocating from coastal areas like California and Florida to more affordable locations like Texas. “For the third consecutive yeara, Texas has seen the largest net gain in Hispanic residents, with an increase of 128,900 residents year over year. While substantial, this is not a new trend. Texas has recorded the largest influx of Hispanic residents of any state for 9 out of the past 15 years.”
The report outlined several challenges for homebuying in 2024 that also affected Hispanic homebuyers. Challenges mentioned by participants in the study include:
- Housing affordability: limited inventory has led to dramatic home-price appreciation.
- Mortgage rates remain high: Throughout 2024, the 30-year fixed ranged from 6% to 7.25%.
- New broker compensation rules shifted the financial burden of buyer agent commission fro the seller to the buyer.
