AREAA/UCLA Revisits Asian American Home Buying Trends With Update of Historic Study

The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center today released the first update to their historic and in-depth
2006 study of demographic trends related to home buying within the fast-growing Asian American consumer market.

The update, entitled "Following the Path to Asian American Home Ownership," was released at today's "Safeguarding the American Dream" symposium, a national meeting of mortgage industry leaders, real estate professionals, public officials and consumer groups in the nation's capital.

Jim Park, president and CEO of AREAA, addressed attendees about the home ownership gap facing Asian Americans and challenged industry professionals to address this growing market.

"Our community is not only diverse in terms of culture and language, but the housing challenges faced by this community are complex and wide-ranging," Park said.

He said the major financial and real estate companies have largely ignored the substantial purchasing power and stellar credit among Asian Americans, an audience that could provide enormous business opportunities.

"Mortgage and real estate professionals can stand to prosper significantly by effectively serving this market," Park said. "Given the educational level, credit profile and income attainment of the Asian Pacific American community, its home ownership rate has tremendous room to grow."

Indeed, the 2007 update to AREAA's landmark study paints a complex picture of the Asian American community in terms of population, housing, income, language, and social/economic status.

Based on new data from 2000 to 2005, the update includes several key findings, including:


The Asian American consumer market is still one of the fastest growing markets in the United States, with its population growing 81% from 1990 to 2005. In 1990, the buying power of Asian Americans was $117 billion, and is projected to quintuple to $579 billion in 2010.

Asian American home ownership is on the rise. In 2000, the nationwide home ownership rate for Asians was 53%. As of 2005, it had increased significantly to 59%, but it still lags national home ownership rates (67%) and non-Hispanic White (74%) populations.

"AREAA is pleased to partner with UCLA to update our historic study regarding the home ownership patterns of the Asian American community," Okamoto said. "While Asian Americans have increased their rate of home ownership, we still have work to do. This update serves as a challenge to the entire housing industry to work creatively to solve the unique home ownership challenges facing Asian American consumers."

"The updated data show that Asian Americans have become a truly national population, with growing and highly visible communities outside of the big three regional concentrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York," said said Don Nakanishi, Ph.D. Director of Asian American Studies Center at University of California, Los Angeles. "Cities from Boston to Houston and from the Washington, DC area to
Phoenix are rapidly growing. Asian Americans are setting their roots in these areas through home ownership and increasing civic involvement."

The report focuses on the top twenty-five metropolitan areas with the largest Asian American populations: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fresno, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Stockton, Tampa, and Washington DC.

Additional findings show that more than half of the Asian population lived in just three states: California, New York and Texas, Additionally, settlement patterns at the regional level show a greater number of Asian Americans moving to southern metropolitan areas such as: Asian Indians and Vietnamese in Dallas, Texas; Koreans and Vietnamese in Atlanta, Georgia, and Vietnamese in Houston, Texas.

Despite their growth in home ownership rates, the update shows that Asian Americans still face challenges when it comes to attaining home ownership, including language barriers, relevant mortgage products and less familiarity with the U.S. banking and finance systems.

Founded in 2003, Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) is a national professional trade organization dedicated to closing the home ownership gap facing the Asian Pacific American (APA) community.