REAL ESTATE TOPICS...This Minority Group Is Creating a Buying Boom

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, JANUARY 05, 2016

The Asian American community has become the fastest-growing minority demographic in the country and their stake in home ownership is quickly widening. 

By 2024, 1.8 million more Asian households will be formed, according to the newly released Asian Real Estate Association of America’s 2015 report on the State of Asian Americans. 

“This report shows the tremendous buying power of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) not only now, but for the foreseeable future,” says Vicky Silvano, AREAA 2016 national chairwoman. “Over the past five years, AAPI took out two million home loans, representing $600 billion in mortgage originations, more than any other minority group.” 

The Asian American community applied for -- and received -- the largest share of purchase money mortgages of any minority group in terms of both number and monetary value, according to the 2014 study “Asian American Outcomes in the U.S. Mortgage Market.”

What’s more, Asian Americans tend to have higher credit scores, low APRs, and lower LTV ratios than the general public. They also have a higher median personal and household incomes than the U.S. general population, as well as more education with nearly half of all AAPI’s holding at least a bachelor’s degree, Silvano says.

“Our research also found AAPI aren’t content to stay in the traditional ‘gateway’ cities of Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco anymore,” she says. “Nearly every state experienced at least 50 percent growth in their Asian population since 2000, with states in the South and West making the biggest gains.”