Minority households are growing; between 1991 and 2003, they've increased from 22 percent to 35 percent, and of new home buyers, from 13 to 24 percent and or home remodelers from 12 to 19 percent.

That has the housing industry salivating and wondering where these new households will settle?

U.S. Census figures from 2004 tell us that the majority of whites are homeowners (75.7 percent) but African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and others are catching up, creating an exciting opportunity for minority investors:

• African-Americans homeowners: 49.5 percent
• Hispanic: 47.4
• Asian/Others: 59.6

In 1993, only 42.6 percent of African-Americans were homeowners, as were 40 percent of Hispanics, and 51.9 percent of Asians.

One of the reasons minority homeownership is on the rise is because the government is recognizing the need to help these buyers with educational programs and other assistance to become homeowners. For example, between 1993 and 2002, Fannie Mae's overall mortgage financing for African-Americans increased by 323 percent while the number of African-American households the GSE served rose by 220 percent.

However, the government has also had to watch out for predatory lenders who take advantage of recent immigrants and minorities. These two groups "make up the bulk of new households and about half of first-time home buyers in the coming decades," said USA Today, December 2004. They are "far more likely than whites to take out subprime loans -- and appear more likely to be victimized by predatory lending. Federal data show even affluent minorities are more likely than whites to take out subprime loans, and some consumer groups say minorities are unfairly diverted to the subprime market," wrote reporter Sue Kirchhoff.

Discrimination is an ugly problem. The Urban Institute found that while poor treatment has declined against minority homebuyers since 1989, it still exists as a barrier to homeownership. In test markets in 2000, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and The Urban Institute conducted surveys and found that in metropolitan sales markets, "African American homebuyers -- like renters -- continue to face discrimination in metropolitan housing markets nationwide. White homebuyers were consistently favored over blacks in 17.0 percent of tests.

Specifically, white homebuyers were more likely to be able to inspect available homes and to be shown homes in more predominantly white neighborhoods than comparable blacks. Whites also received more information and assistance with financing as well as more encouragement than comparable black homebuyers."

Discrimination declined substantially between 1989 and 2000, but it was not eliminated altogether. "The overall incidence of consistent white-favored treatment dropped by 12.0 percentage points, from 29.0 percent in 1989 to 17.0 percent in 2000."

However, geographic steering rose, suggesting that whites and blacks are increasingly likely to be recommended and shown homes in different neighborhoods.

"Hispanic homebuyers also face significant levels of discrimination," said the report. "Non-Hispanic whites were consistently favored in 19.7 percent of tests. In particular, non-Hispanic whites were more likely to receive information and assistance with financing, and to be shown homes in non-Hispanic neighborhoods than comparable Hispanic homebuyers."

Again, discrimination against Hispanic homebuyers declined since 1989. Specifically, the overall consistency measure dropped by 7.1 percentage points -- from 26.8 percent in 1989 to 19.7 percent in 2000. But it also still exists.

Immigrants also face hurdles. According to the Center for Housing Policy's "Housing Landscape for America's Working Families, 2005," critical housing needs are greater for immigrants and native-born Americans, with the disparity being the highest in the Northeast where immigrants have almost one and a half times the critical housing needs of native-borns.

The Fair Housing Act, found at www.firstgov.com makes it unlawful to discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap (disability) but hopefully, with a little time, discrimination will take care of itself, and that's because the nation is headed toward a majority-minority.

The Selma Times-Journal says that "Texas, California, New Mexico, and Hawaii are already majority minority states," as it quoted the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding's Executive Director Larry Kopp said. "New York, Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi, and Arizona, in the next year to two years, are going to become majority minority. Culturally, politically, people are not aware of these changes that are absolutely taking place."

While some may resist the change, the fact is that in the next 20 to 30 years, the American population will be minority majority, and that it will "much like the community of New York City, a virtual smorgasbord of race and cultures."

"For years, the real estate industry has touted the importance of immigrant buyers to its long-term well-being," writes Al Heavens for Realty Times, and the real estate industry is trying to do more to track the buying patterns of immigrants.

Why is this important? Because of entry points and their subsequent growth patterns. "The assumption is that everyone who immigrated to the United States between 1850 and 1924 came through New York, Boston and San Francisco," writes Heavens, "The Immigration Restriction Act of 1924 effectively cut the flow from all but favored countries until 1965. The current wave of immigration, mostly from Asia and Latin American, started in the early 1990s, most experts agree."

He says, "Although a huge number of immigrants entered the United States through those three ports during those 74 years, others cities -- New Haven, CT; Providence, RI; Charleston, SC; Baltimore, MD and New Orleans, LA -- received their share.

"A vast number of Irish immigrants came through Canada first before they finally arrived in the United States. Because Ireland and Canada were part of the British Empire, ships carrying sickness couldn't be turned away from Canadian ports as they could from those in the United States."

That means that millions of immigrant buying patterns are undocumented and could cause significant demographic shifts.

A study of 1990 and 2000 Census data by Gary Painter and Zhou Yu of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate has some interesting findings that should make the real estate industry sit up and take notice, namely that younger immigrants are more likely to own homes than U.S.-born counterparts

Yet, says Broderick Perkins, for Realty Times, immigrant homebuyers have more problems meeting affordability issues than native-born Americans, which means they might not have as dramatic effect on housing as anticipated by government entities.

Immigrant working families are nearly 70 percent more likely than native-born Americans to spend more than half their income on housing, and six times more likely to live in crowded conditions than native born Americans.

That means many can't afford to buy, according to "America's Newest Working Families: Cost, Crowding and Conditions for Immigrants," by the National Housing Conference's (NHC) research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy.

Like HUD, Fannie Mae, and other entities, the NHC "develops resources and policies to increase the availability of affordable housing," says Perkins. "The report defines working families as low- to moderate-income families working the equivalent of a full-time job and earn between the full-time minimum wage of $10,712 and up to 120 percent of the median income in their area.

"Also, immigrant working families live in crowded conditions (more than one person per bedroom) more often than native-borns, 15 percent versus 2 percent and there are greater numbers of immigrants living in crowded conditions -- 1 million compared to 840,000 native-borns," says Perkins.

"While some studies show immigrants are ready to buy a home five years after they arrive, the NHC study found that not only recent immigrant arrivals experience housing problems, but of the low- to moderate-income immigrant working families with critical housing needs, more than one-third of them arrived in the United States between 1980 and 1989."

Yet, the National Association of Realtors maintains a positive outlook for the impact of diversity on housing. "Minorities will grow evermore important to housing markets over the next 10 years, accounting for an estimated two-thirds of new households," says Realtors.org. "They will account for more than 50 percent of first-time homebuyers by 2010, when nearly three in 10 households will be headed by a minority.

Harvard University also weighs in with these projections for homeownership by 2010:

Published: December 23, 2005

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.