Seven Percent of All U.S. Homebuyers Last Year Were Latino: National Association of Realtors

Seven percent of all homebuyers in the United States last year were Latinos according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The figure was the same for Black Americans, while six percent were Asian/Pacific Islanders and another six percent identified as another race. They were all far below Whites, who purchased 81 percent of all properties — although lower than last year's 88 percent.

"Home buyers in the past year were more diverse, both racially and ethnically, with increases noted among minority buyers, buyers who were born outside of the U.S. and buyers whose primary language is not English," said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research.

At a general level, a salient data point was the fact that the median household income for home buyers soared to $107,000 from $88,000 in 2022, "underscoring the increasing income required to purchase a home." It was the second time ever when the necessary income for this was over six figures, Lautz said.

The report also showed that first-time buyers made up 32 percent of the total, compared to last year's 26 percent. While an increase, it's still below that 38 percent annual average since 1981.

Moreover, household composition is also shifting: 70 percent of recent buyers did not have a child over 18 in the home, the highest ever figure recorded. "By comparison, in 1985, 42% of households did not have a child under the age of 18," says the report. This is despite the fact that 59 percent of recent buyers being married couples and nine percent unmarried couples. 19 percent of all home buyers were single females and 10 percent single men.

A recent report by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) provided a more granular look at the Latino demographic in the housing industry. Concretely, it showed that "Hispanic homeownership rate increased to 48.6 percent, marking eight years of consistent homeownership growth" despite affordability challenges. It was the only group with this streak, according to the report.

"Latinos still managed to add a net total 349,000 homeowner households and formed 628,000 new households, both among the largest single-year gains for Latinos over the last ten years," adds the report. Overall, more than 9 million Latinos were homeowners in the country last year, added the report, which drew information from the U.S. Census Bureau.

It also highlighted that the median age of Latino homebuyers was 30. The age was lower than the average documented by the NAR report, which showed that the typical ages for first-time buyers was 35 years.