For a Growing Number of Latinos, Home Buying Is a Family Affair

Whenever Danae Vega, 33, took a shower in her Southern California home, it was an ordeal. The pipes were broken, so the water didn’t drain. Each time, she would have to ask her younger brothers to manually remove the water so the next person in the family of eight could take a shower. Demanding that the landlord repair the pipes was not an option. “When we would tell the owner to fix it, he would always threaten us: ‘If I fix it, I’m going to have to include this in raising the rent,’” she said.

Even without installing new pipes, he increased it, though, and often: Ms. Vega cited repeated substantial hikes in 2022 and 2023. Needing to leave that situation and not wanting to end up in a similar one, she and her two sisters, three brothers, and parents decided to buy a home.

The Vegas are among a growing number of Latinos becoming homeowners in the United States. From 2019 to 2022, the Hispanic homeownership rate increased more than that of any other demographic group, said Jung Hyun Choi, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute, a think tank. A study by the Urban Institute projects that between 2020 and 2040, 70 percent of net new homeowners will be Hispanic.

For many Latinos, including the Vegas, first-time homeownership in a time of low inventory and high interest rates is possible because they are buying as a family, combining incomes and relying on members with the best credit to take the lead.

And many Latinos are already living in multigenerational homes. Analyzing data from the American Community Survey, Dr. Choi found that 63 percent of Latino households are multigenerational, compared with about 57 percent of Asian American households and less than 50 percent of Black or white households.