Commercial PropertyHispanic First-time Homebuyers Have Unique Needs, Desires, Says Century 21 Survey
The CENTURY 21® First-Time Homebuyer Index offers some surprising insights into the Hispanic first-time homebuyer market. This group is not only younger than white and African American first-time homebuyers, they are likely to spend much more on their first home.
Identifying the unique needs of Hispanic first-time homeowners, the survey yielded the following results.
Hispanic first-time homebuyer respondents (mean age 30) are younger than whites (mean age 34) and African Americans (mean age 35)
No significant income difference was determined among Hispanics, whites and African-Americans surveyed
Hispanic respondents are likely to pay more for a first home ($262,000) than both white ($196,000) and African American ($215,000) respondents, a finding that could be influenced by the following factors:
Significantly more Hispanics (30 percent) reside in the West region of the U.S. than white respondents (15 percent). The survey showed that first-time buyers in the West pay more on average ($303,000) than in the Northeast ($252,000), North/Central ($178,000) and South ($173,000)
27 percent plan to have elderly family members move in (vs. 12 percent non-Hispanic)
More Hispanics (17 percent) cite marriage as the primary reason for purchasing a first home than whites (10 percent)
20 percent of Hispanics listed access to public transportation as an important factor in buying a new home (versus 12 percent of white respondents)
Hispanics favor suburban areas for their dream home (52 percent versus 42 percent of whites) and prefer houses to be in close proximity rather than secluded
Hispanics were more likely to desire an attached dwelling (8 percent) than whites (3 percent) or blacks (2 percent)
From a list of major metros, Hispanics rated New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, and San Diego higher than Non-Hispanic whites as ideal cities for a dream home
According to the National Association of Realtors" 2004 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 77 percent of first-time home buyers are white, while 88 percent of repeat buyers are; 10 percent of first-timers are Afro-American and seven percent are Hispanic. Five percent of all homebuyers are Hispanic. Seven percent are first-time homebuyers and four percent are repeat home buyers.