Founded in 2003, the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) is a national professional trade organization dedicated to promoting sustainable homeownership opportunities in Asian American communities by creating a powerful national voice for housing and real estate professionals that serve this dynamic market.

AREAA advocates for policy positions at the national level that will reduce homeownership barriers facing the Asian American community.

First time and immigrant home buyers often lack the credit depth necessary to qualify for low interest rate mortgages. They have to obtain alternate financing at higher rates or go without purchasing a home altogether.

The market should test and implement alternative credit tools, such as First American's Anthem, and the VantageScore Solutions. These programs measure creditworthiness of borrowers based on non-traditional credit lines, such as: rent, utilities and other financial obligations.

Implementation of these programs will streamline the underwriting process and better position more immigrant and first time homebuyers to qualify for affordable mortgage products.

Congress is considering various proposals to retool the GSE regulatory regime related to safety enhancements and capital requirements.
AREAA supports:

A portion of the GSE after-tax profit should be earmarked for post-purchase counseling, consumer awareness and foreclosure prevention efforts. Mortgage rescue funds should be made available to low or moderate income borrowers; or borrowers in neighborhoods comprised primarily of minorities to assist in refinancing into manageable fixed-rate products

AREAA believes that a strong FHA can help our communities by:

Increased loan amounts, financing alternatives and acceptable property options under FHA guidelines will increase the affordable housing options for many Asian Americans. Historically, this segment has not used FHA loans in great numbers due to the fact that most Asian Americans live in high-cost metro areas, where median home prices lie well above FHA loan limits. Also, many Asian Americans are self-employed and require stated income products, disqualifying them from strictly full doc FHA loans.

Legislation has been proposed to deter predatory lenders from taking advantage of unknowing borrowers. Asian Americans have been victimized by these unethical real estate lenders because many of them lack familiarity with the mortgage process in this country, which can become magnified by language barriers.

AREAA supports uniform standards throughout the country, increased penalties, severe license restrictions, tougher enforcement on unscrupulous lenders and increased disclosure from lending institutions regarding their minority lending practices.

AREAA opposes overly restrictive limitations around products, and mortgage terms as long as there is sufficient disclosure and choice for the borrower and AREAA supports increased overall consumer disclosure and education on riskier mortgage products.

Foreign interest in U.S. real estate investment opportunities is at an all time high. However, given the recent restrictions placed on visa issuance, it has become increasingly more difficult for foreign nationals to visit and spend time in the U.S.

AREAA believes visas for foreign retirees to live and reside in the U.S. should be easier to retain. This would not be a green card that would permit employment, but a separate designation that would permit someone to reside in the US and invest in our real estate market without burdening our social services or health care.

Mortgage insurers make it possible for consumers to buy homes with less than a 20 percent down payment. Their mission facilitates the entrance of first time homebuyers applying for conventional loans. A vibrant housing market will not be possible unless new homeowners enter the market. The mortgage insurance industry is also a critical counterparty to the GSEs who are increasingly being relied on to fulfill their important mission of creating liquidity and providing financing for qualified homebuyers.

SAN DIEGO (September 25, 2009) - The Asian homeownership rate suffered the steepest decline among minority groups in 2008, according to the recently released American Community Survey.

The survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, reveals that Asians have been disproportionately impacted by the current housing crisis, with homeownership rates dropping 1.24 percent to 59.4 percent. By comparison, African Americans faced a 0.88 percent decline to 45.6 percent, Hispanics fell 0.80 percent to 49.1 percent and the homeownership rate for Whites decreased 0.40 percent to 73.4 percent overall.

While some of the decline in Asian homeownership can be attributed to the regional impact of foreclosures--one third of Asian Americans live in the high foreclosure state of California--two lesser known factors are driving this issue.

"Asians made significant advancements in homeownership in the early part of the decade; however, much of this equity has been eliminated with the recent decline in home prices" states Jim Park, President of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. "This loss of equity creates an unstable homeownership environment in today's housing market, particularly for those homebuyers who recently became homeowners in the early to mid part of the decade."

To further exaggerate the problem, the industry has not fully overcome the language and cultural obstacles facing many Asian Americans, two-thirds of which are foreign born.

"Outreach efforts for loan modification and refinance assistance are not widely understood in the Asian American community," Allen Chiang, Chairman of AREAA added. "The industry must recognize and address the cultural and linguistic barriers that exist today, that create an enormous hurdle for these distressed homeowners. To prevent future foreclosures, they need to proactively reach out to Asian homeowners to educate them on their options in times of financial distress."

Without increased focus and attention to this issue, the API homeownership rate could continue to deteriorate at a significant pace. AREAA has recently partnered with Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac to pursue various foreclosure prevention efforts in the Asian community.

SAN DIEGO (JULY 27, 2009) - The Asian Real Estate Association of America is in favor of the Home Buyer Tax Credit Act of 2009 (S.1230), as introduced by Senator John Isakson (R-Ga.), increasing the homebuyer tax credit from $8,000 to $15,000 and expanding the tax credit to include all purchasers of primary residences, rather than first time homebuyers exclusively.

"As Census data shows, Asian American homeownership has been in decline since 2006, after a decade of steady increases," states Allen Chiang, AREAA Chair. "Legislation aimed at increasing accessibility to homeownership will help to reverse this trend and benefit the Asian community.

"It should also be noted that homeowners with the capacity and desire to move up in a favorable market represent great potential, given an incentive to purchase. Allowing all homeowners access to the tax credit will encourage more sales and, ultimately, boost the economy."