Minority US homebuyers usually younger than white non-Hispanic buyers, with median age of Hispanic, Asian buyers, respectively, at 37 and 36, compared to 43 for white buyers; married couples account for 50% or more of buyers in all ethnic categories: NAHB

Allison Oesterle

March 10, 2014 (press release) – Today, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released the results of a new study, What Home Buyers Really Want: Ethnic Preferences. The latest release from NAHB’s publishing arm, BuilderBooks is a further analysis of the 2013 study, What Home Buyers Really Want, which presented preferences of all home buyers combined. This new study compares and contrasts how housing preferences are affected by the racial or ethnic background of a home buyer, after controlling for factors such as age and income.

“The new data reveals some interesting findings about home buying preferences broken down by race and ethnicity,” said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del. “It contains invaluable information for builders by providing a window into the preferences of potential home buyers, and allowing them to tailor things to better meet the needs of their customers.”

The survey data confirmed that there are some significant differences across the various ethnic groups of buyers such as:

• Minority home buyers are typically younger than White non-Hispanics buyers. The median African-American buyer is 39, the Hispanic buyer is 37, and the Asian buyer is about 36, while the median White buyer is 43 years old.

• Fifty percent or more of buyers in all racial/ethnic groups are married couples: 80 percent of White buyers, 50 percent of African-Americans, 74 percent of Hispanics, and 79 percent of Asians. Most also have children living at home.

• Asian home buyers have the highest median household income of all four groups, $72,797, compared with $67,747 for Whites, $50,221 for Hispanics, and $43,774 for African-Americans. Asians also expect to pay the most for their home: $283,469, compared with $205,775 among Whites, $181,444 among Hispanics, and $176,397 among African-Americans.

On Wednesday, March 12 at 2:00 pm EST, NAHB will host a webinar to discuss the findings of the survey. For more information, or to register, go to http://www.nahb.org/meeting_details.aspx?meetingID=28738.

What Home Buyers Really Want: Ethnic Preferences is available only as an eBook at ebooks.builderbooks.com for $149.99 Retail or $49.99 for NAHB Members. However, limited print copies are available for purchase while supplies last ($195.95 Retail/$69.95 NAHB Member, ISBN 978-086718-732-8) at BuilderBooks.com or by calling 800-223-2665.


[Editor’s Note: Editors who are interested in receiving a complimentary copy of What Home Buyers Really Want: Ethnic Preferences to review for their publications should contact Patricia Potts at 202-266-8224 or ppotts@nahb.org. For complimentary press access to the March 12 webinar, please contact Liz Thompson at ethompson@nahb.org].

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.