The effects of the recession has caused an entire generation of graduates and post-graduates to reevaluate their options, take on low-wage jobs and retreat to their parents’ home.
Despite this, Latino millennials remain focused on their futures and determined to become future home owners. According to Miriam De Dios, CEO of Coopera, a 7-year-old organization based in Des Moines, Iowa and an expert in the field of Hispanic millennial home ownership has found Hispanic millennials are more interested and determined to purchase a home than the rest of the millennial population. However, they are not necessarily prepared to do so; instead they see home ownership as a long-term goal, rather than a short-term one. Approximately 45 % of Hispanics ages 18-34 live with their parents; they are 20 % more likely than whites to live in a multigenerational home, and nearly 60 % of bilingual, bicultural Hispanics ages 18-29 live at home.
For young Hispanics, education and business ownership are the main indicators of success, a statement that’s more true of foreign-born Hispanic millennials (57 %) than U.S.-born Hispanic millennials (45 %). Getting a job and having financial stability are prioritized over home ownership, but the desire for home ownership isn’t lost. Hispanics (68 %), compared to non-Hispanic whites (64 %), believe that part of the American dream is buying a home. Likewise, 64 % of Hispanics define the American dream as gaining a college education, compared to non-Hispanic whites (50 %).
De Dios shared that Hispanic millennials tend to carry $10,000 less in debt than their non-Hispanic counterparts. More than 31 % have no debt at all — one reason for this is because Hispanics are likelier to live with their parents for longer (45 percent) than non-Hispanics (39 percent). Buying a home could mean “going into debt for many Hispanic millennials, and so forgoing buying a home is also a debt reduction measure.”
That said, some sources have said that Hispanic millennials are the driving force behind real estate growth. In fact, the National Association of Realtors stated that millennials claim the greatest share of recently purchased homes, with Hispanics representing 20 percent of those numbers.
According to the 2013 Fannie Mae National Housing Survey, “Hispanics: A Key Driver of Future Homeownership Demand,” Hispanics continue find it difficult to obtain affordable mortgages because of the requirements needed to obtain a mortgage. Forty percent of the general population believes that it’s harder to purchase a home today, compared to 63 % of Hispanic homeowners.