Name of Report: The New Demographics of Housing
Organizational Affiliation: Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University
Author: George S. Masnick
Date: November 2001
Contact Information: 1033 Massachusetts Ave., 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138
Telephone: 617-495-7908
Pages: 46
Content Summary
This report examines the increasing role of minorities in population growth throughout the United States in the 1990s. The author seeks to identify and understand trends in household growth and housing consumption as a result of this demographic change, both to understand the current housing situation and to make predictions about future markets.
Major Findings
- Patterns of minority population growth and migration have a great influence on housing availability and quality, particularly in the largest metropolitan areas.
- Total and owner household growth among minorities increased only modestly in the late 1990s, most likely due to economic and housing policies of that period.
- Age structures in minority populations that differ from age structures in White populations affect homeownership patterns.
- The dynamics of housing turnover, while seemingly a chaotic process, can be better understood by examining age and minority status cohorts.
- Homeownership rates will increase among minorities in the long run due to an aging population and increasing migration to the suburbs.
Related Issues
This report focuses primarily on how demographic trends affect patterns of homeownership among minorities. A complementary report examining the financial transformations of the same period is useful for understanding trends in home mortgage financing and its effects on housing consumption (Zhou and Shaw).
Reference List
Zhou, Bin and Wendy Shaw. “Financial Transformation and Portfolio Reallocation: Impacts on House Mortgage Finance in the USA.” Housing Studies 19.2 (2004): 207-228.
How to Access Report
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/masnick_W01-11.pdf