In 2015, Hispanics accounted for 69 percent of the total net growth in U.S. homeownership with a gain of 245,000 owner households, says the HWP. The current rate of Hispanic homeownership now registers at 45.6 percent.
In 2015, the Hispanic homeownership rate increased while the overall homeownership rate decreased, diverging for the first time. Still, the HWP notes that the median Hispanic household rents its primary living space.
Hispanic Americans also continue to be entrepreneurial, doubling the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the last 13 years to 4.1 million. Hispanics also had the highest level of new business starts in 2015 by census grouping, more than doubling the next largest grouping.
Though they are starting businesses at a high rate, the average operating history of a Hispanic-owned enterprise lies at 22 months, says the HWP, arguing that capital funding challenges create struggles for businesses transitioning into their third operating years and beyond.
Advisors can access more Hispanic households through digital tools. Hispanic Americans tend to outpace other demographics in the use and adoption of social platforms, according to the HWP.
Advisors might also have to seek out younger clients to tap into the growing Hispanic American segment: According to the HWP, the median age of Hispanic Americans in 2015 was 29 years old, a full 14 years younger than non-Hispanic whites.
The HWP has set goals of achieving a 50 percent or greater rate of U.S. Hispanic homeownership, increasing the success rate of Hispanic-owned businesses, and increasing by 25 percecnt the number of Hispanic households owning non-cash financial assets.
The HWP report, published annually, was initiated as a project of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals in 2014 to address the vanishing wealth in the Latino community precipitated by the housing crisis, when Hispanic families reportedly lost two-thirds of their household wealth. The report measures progress towards HWP goals using studies from government, private not-for-profit organizations and academia.
The HWP is supported by partners including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, Freddie Mac, Clearpoint Financial Sevices, Base 11, Chase, City View, Quicken Loans and Union Bank.