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Real Estate Convention to Address Growing Market for Asian/Pacific American Homeownership
By Alton Gary Simpson
Urging real estate professionals to meet the needs of Asian American homebuyers, Stewart Title will sponsor the Asian Real Estate Association of America annual convention, to be held Nov. 11-13 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Asian/Pacific Americans are the nation's second fastest-growing minority population.
Malcolm Morris, chairman of Stewart Title, will co-chair the event entitled Tapping the Dynamic Asian/Pacific Housing Market. "Hundreds of real estate professionals and housing executives are expected to attend the convention," he said. "AREAA is the only national trade organization dedicated to closing the homeownership gap facing the Asian/Pacific American community."
The homeownership rate of the Asian/Pacific American population is 56%, trailing the white non-Hispanic population by approximately 20%. For the Asian/Pacific American population, common barriers to homeownership include language, a lack of knowledge about the homebuying process, unverifiable income, lack of credit or hesitancy to use common credit-building methods, distrust of real estate professionals and the lack of affordable housing.
According to statistics from the Census Bureau, there are nearly 16 million Asian/Pacific Americans in the U.S. They are heavily concentrated in California, New York, Texas and Hawaii. At nearly 5.3 million, California had the highest number of Asian/Pacific Americans and was followed by New York and Texas at 1.4 million and 882,000, respectively. The bureau's statistics note that the Asian population rose by 3.2%, or 460,000, between 2005 and 2006, making it the second-fastest growing minority population behind Hispanics. The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population rose by 1.7%, or 17,000, from 2005 to 2006. California saw the greatest increase in this population segment between 2005 and 2006, with the population of Asian/Pacific Americans in the state growing by 114,000.
"The Asian/Pacific American market is a growing and important segment of the overall housing market, and the buying power of Asian homebuyers is significant," said Mr. Morris, who urged mortgage and real estate professionals to not ignore this emerging market segment. "I encourage professionals in the mortgage and real estate industry to attend this convention to learn important strategies to better serve the needs of this vibrant and growing community of friends who have been adding to the richness of our American culture."
Convention activities will include presentations on demographics and economic forecasts, as well as sessions on commercial investment strategies, REO properties, mortgage options and marketing to the Asian American buyer. Additionally, AREAA will host its annual gala dinner and expo showcasing the latest products and business tools.
"This event is a one-of-a-kind forum that brings together high-profile leaders from the residential real estate, home mortgage and banking industries in the U.S. and Asia," said Allen M. Okamoto, chairman of AREAA. "It is the premier networking event of the year for professionals focused on the Asian housing market."
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