Hispanic homeownership experienced its biggest annual increase last year in two decades.

As buyers – the younger ones in particular – flooded the market in 2020, the number of Hispanic owner households increased by more than 700,000 to nearly 9 million, according to census data compiled by the National Association of Professionals. Hispanic real estate. The Wall Street Journal first reported the analysis, which was published Wednesday.

Hispanics account for more than half of the growth in homeownership in the United States over the past decade, despite making up only 18% of the population. An estimated 48-49% of Hispanic households owned their homes in 2020, up from 47.5% in 2019.

This number has increased for six consecutive years and the trend is expected to continue. Between 2020 and 2040, according to a forecast from the Urban Institute, 70% of new owner households will be Hispanic.

In fact, projections show that all future growth in homeownership will come from minorities. Home ownership by blacks also increased last year, to 45%, from 42% in 2019.

Among the regions experiencing the strongest growth in Hispanic homeowners are Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Seattle, and Fresno. Hispanic Americans tend to be younger and have less student debt than other groups, including non-Hispanic whites.

The median real estate value of homes bought by Latinos with a mortgage in 2020 was $ 265,000, according to the report. For all ethnicities, it was $ 313,000. The gap stems in part from a 29% difference in median household income between whites and non-white Hispanics.

The report also found that Hispanic buyers’ closing costs were $ 599 more than white buyers paid for conventional mortgages and $ 1,410 more for Federal Housing Administration mortgages, in part because their Median down payment was 3.5% versus 10% for the general population. FHA loans require lower down payments but are more expensive.