The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) recently held its 2021 National Convention. The three-day event featured numerous industry practitioners who provided comprehensive insights regarding the Hispanic community’s homeownership needs and trends.
On April 13, NAHREP kicked things off with an opening general session—”The Latino Factor: The Key to Homeownership Growth in America”—featuring the following speakers:
– Moderator: Sara Rodriguez, 2021 NAHREP President, Titan Title LLC
– Panelist: Adam Contos, CEO, RE/MAX, LLC.
– Panelist: Chris Stuart, CEO, HSF Affiliates LLC; CEO and President, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices; Vice Chairman, Real Living Real Estate
– Panelist: Sue Yannaccone, President & CEO, Realogy Franchise Group
“2021 has been a very interesting year. The Hispanic community has been one of the hardest hit because of the COVID pandemic,” said Rodriguez. “However, we have seen an increase of Hispanic formation of households. And it’s predicted that between 2020 and 2040, 70% of homeowners will be Hispanic. They are a younger demographic, coming into the years where they can afford a home.”
“The pace of household formation in the Hispanic community is outpacing any other segment of the population,” agreed Yannaccone, adding that her brokerage has tackled the still-existing gap between Hispanic and white homeownership by launching fair housing training for the industry in 2020. “We have to educate our agents to the barriers and to the opportunities.”
As for opportunities, Contos recommends an emphasis on technology and video in order to create a presence that leads to trust with the Hispanic community. Additionally, there are other areas of the real estate process that need improvement.
Among the biggest obstacles is communication. Language accessibility within the real estate transaction still needs work. In addition to that, there needs to be a cultural understanding when it comes to communication.
“There are still barriers in place, such as those related to education, that can slow the growth of the Hispanic homebuyer. This is something we really need to pay attention to,” said Rodriguez.
“Making information available in Spanish is really table stakes,” said Stuart. “And the most impactful thing we can do is help our agents develop a CEO-like mindset. One of the things this industry is missing is better understanding, quantitatively, of what kind of representation we have in the industry for the communities we serve.”
According to Stuart, determining whether we have a balance or imbalance in the numbers, agent-wise, is crucial to ensuring we can provide fair services for homebuyers and sellers of all ethnicities and backgrounds.
“We need to project outward that the Hispanic community is the youngest segment of the home-buying population, and they are extremely entrepreneurial and driving growth in our economy,” said Contos, who added that this is perfect for our industry, which has an entrepreneurial mindset to begin with and is also very much community-based like the Hispanic population.
“Focus on the opportunities and stop chasing things that are never going to move the needle,” said Yannaccone.
Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s senior online editor. Email her your real estate news ideas to lizd@rismedia.com.
