Immigrant Homebuyers Purchase Outside of Major Metropolitan Areas
California Real Estate Journal
... An increasing number of immigrants choose to purchase homes outside of major metropolitan areas, according to a study by the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.
The study found that immigrant homebuyers are drawn to outlying areas because there is less competition for jobs and they seek growing neighborhoods of fellow immigrants.
Researchers examined 60 mid-size metropolitan areas where housing is priced lower than in the major gateways of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Cities such as Nashville, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis and El Paso have experienced an average 27 percent rise in new immigrant population, while major gateway cities are losing residents. The majority of immigrants in these areas come from Mexico and China.
Builders and local governments could use this information to prepare for a coming wave of homebuyers, as immigrants and their descendants will represent 82 percent of the U.S. population's growth in the next 40 years, the Lusk Center said.
Cities would benefit from developing networks of real estate agents and lenders with the same ethnic backgrounds to prepare for this demographic sector, suggested the study.
"The anticipated rapid growth of U.S. immigrant populations in the coming decades coupled with their movement into mid-size metro areas has the potential to transform communities," said Gary Painter, director of research at the Lusk Center and author of the study...