Working Paper #555
Immigration and Real Estate Markets
Albert Saiz
Ethnic Factors United States Urban
Immigration is expected to account for half of the U.S. population growth between 2005 and 2050, which will make it an important influence on future housing demand. In the short-term this influence is felt in a small number of port-of-entry metropolitan areas that have large immigrant communities. The author discusses the different ways in which immigrants may affect local housing markets in these areas, and presents data on twenty major metropolitan areas. In the long run, it is likely that immigrants and their offspring disperse and assimilate. As some immigrants and their offspring can be expected to leave immigrant enclaves for other cities, when that process of decentralization occurs, housing demand will decrease in immigrant cities and increase in alternative locations.