According to some recent studies, the number of homeowners in the United States who were born in another country will increase to 2.8 million by the year 2020. However, if an immigration reform is achieved, this number will be much higher once undocumented workers are able to obtain U.S. citizenship.
It is hard to deny the fact that Latino immigrants have had a great influence on the U.S. housing market.
For years, many of them without legal residency status have been able to purchase a house, even if it that purchase was made through a close friend. It is estimated that in 2004 there were thousands who were capable of generating $44 billion dollars in mortgage loans.
Now, an estimated 6 million undocumented immigrants meet the requirements to be able to adjust their immigration status, which from this amount, 3 million could purchase their first home.
This possibility would give the housing market the reinforcement to overcome the crisis that it suffered in 2008.
Currently, U.S. laws allow an undocumented immigrant to purchase a home. The problem lays in getting a mortgage loan. But given the potential that this represents to the economy, banks have stopped-for a while- asking for an individual's social security numbers as one of the requirements, and have instead replaced it with the "Income Tax Payer Identification Number" and their "Consular Identification Card" (CID).
There are 8.6 million undocumented immigrants who have this ID number and who pay taxes. With an immigration reform almost around the corner, nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants would be eligible to apply for a new visa to stabilize and regularize their immigration status, which once this visa is approved, they would then apply for their husband, wife or children who live in a different country, to be entitled to this same benefit. After eight years (for those who were eligible for this reform) they could obtain their permanent residency, provided that they pay taxes and learn the language, which would then lead to the next step, purchase a home of their own.
Even with all these statistics, according to the "Homeownership Among the Foreign-Born Population" report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Not only Mexicans, but immigrants of any other country, are less likely to be homeowners compared to U.S. citizens.
In their report, it explains that only 52% of immigrants owned their own home in 2011 compared to 67% of American citizens.
The report also specified that one in seven families in the U.S. were immigrants, and that the chances of them buying a home are less due to the high investment required on doing so.
According to this same report, 66% of foreigners naturalized as U.S. citizens are homeowners, compared to only 34% of foreigners who are not naturalized U.S. citizens and own a home.
Among other figures in this report, it mentions that almost 75% of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before 1980, now own a home, compared to those who arrived after the year 2000 who only 25% own a home.
The cities with the most immigrants that own a home are New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Houston.
Currently there are several groups who are helping out undocumented Latino families to buy a home, which according to a census; they have the necessary characteristics (of age and income) to own a home.
We can mention that there have been some developments, such as the fact that today there are several financing programs that ask for a small down payment. And if to this we add that the interest rates have been historically low, it gives anyone a favorable advantage to purchase a home.
*Jorge Ahuage has over 20 years of experience as a real estate consultant in Southern California.
info@ahuagerealty.com
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