More immigrants moving to mid-size cities

Mid-size metropolitan areas are seeing an average of a 27-percent increase in new immigrant populations, according to a recent study, “Immigrants and Housing Markets in Mid-Size Metropolitan Areas” conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.

Pittsburgh was one of the mid-size cities the study looked at but it did not show a large immigrant population. “Pennsylvania will likely see more and more immigrants as the job market improves,” said Dr. Gary Painter, director of research at the Lusk Center in Los Angeles.

He suggests that cities trying to lure immigrants with employment opportunities start developing networks of real estate agents and lenders with the same ethnic backgrounds and a willingness to build strong ties to the new arrivals. “Nurturing links within the immigrant community is key to building new ranks of homeowners,” he said. Painter said that areas with declining home values could see prices stabilize thanks to a wave of first-time homebuyers who speak English as a second language.

Painter and his co-author Dr. Zhou Yu, assistant professor at the University of Utah, originally believed that less expensive housing may have spurred immigrants to mid-size metro areas. “Housing is expensive in gateway communities like New York City, San Francisco and Miami. But what we found is that immigrants with the same salary as native-born residents aren’t buying homes at the same rate.

“Many immigrants may be waiting for other family members to join them before setting down more permanent roots. We’ve speculated that the immigrants may not have made the decision to stay in these communities and are waiting to buy a home,” he added. “Immigrants who have been in the US more than 10 years have an increased likelihood of owning a home. If there’s an immigrant community or more people who speak their language, they’re more likely to buy a home,” Painter said.

“The anticipated rapid growth of US immigrant populations in the coming decades coupled with their movement into mid-size metro areas has the potential to transform communities. Communities may see additional costs initially in the first few years immigrants are here but in the long run, the benefits outweigh the costs,” Painter added.