Inman Connect
The homeownership rate increased slightly in the first quarter of 2021, but its change was not statistically significant from previous quarters, despite the unusually high housing market demand.
The homeownership rate for the first quarter of 2021 was 65.6 percent nearly equal to the first quarter 2020 rate of 65.3 percent and the fourth quarter 2020 rate of 65.8 percent, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Similar to the numbers seen in 2020, the first quarter 2021 homeownership rate was highest for consumers aged 65 years and over at 79.3 percent and lowest for those under 35 years of age at 38.1 percent, the report showed.
Gary Acosta
“Despite significant headwinds, [Hispanics] drove homeownership growth in America for the sixth consecutive year,” NAHREP Co-Founder and CEO Gary Acosta said in a press release. “This was especially consequential in 2020 because it was housing more than any other sector that pulled the country out of the coronavirus-induced recession.”
NAHREP said the boom can be attributed to generational, educational and financial trends that have pushed Hispanic homebuyers to the forefront of the battle to raise the U.S.’s stagnant homeownership rate.
“The overwhelming amount of [Hispanics] aging into prime home-buying years remains the biggest catalyst for homeownership growth,” the report read. “With a median age of 29.8, Latinos are almost 14 years younger than the non-Hispanic White population. In 2020, nearly half (43.6 percent) of Latino homebuyers were under the age of 34 compared to 37.3 percent of the general population.”