Homeownership Rate Gap Between Immigrants and the Native-Born Population Narrowed Faster During the Last Decade

According to the American Community Survey, the U.S. was home to 18.8 million immigrant renters in 2012, representing a large reservoir of potential future homeownership demand. One major factor determining the homeownership rate gap between immigrants and the native-born population is immigrants’ length of residency in the United States.

In our most recent edition of Housing Insights, Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group explores how the homeownership rate gap has changed during the past 10 years and, in particular, during the recent housing crisis compared to previous years. Their research, in line with existing research, shows that as immigrants have stayed longer in the U.S. they have narrowed the homeownership rate gap with the native-born population. Surprisingly, the data also find that immigrants narrowed the homeownership gap at a faster rate during the 2000s than in the 1990s – suggesting that the recent housing crisis may have had a lesser impact on homeownership advancement of immigrants relative to the native-born population.

Homeownership Rate Gap Between Immigrants and the Native-Born Population Narrowed Faster During the Last Decade (PDF)