WASHINGTON – Jan. 30, 2013 – According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half (52 percent) of foreign-born householders owned their homes in 2011. In contrast, about two-thirds (67 percent) of native-born householders owned their homes.

A new report, Homeownership Among the Foreign-Born Population: 2011, released today, examines the homeownership and renter status among foreign-born households based on data from the 2011 American Community Survey.

“Homeownership is a goal shared by many residents of the United States, both native- and foreign-born, citizen and noncitizen,” says Elizabeth Grieco, chief of the Foreign-Born Population Branch at the Census Bureau. “For immigrants in particular – who maintain nearly one in seven households in the U.S. – making the transition from renter to homeowner represents a significant investment in the United States.”

Overall, Florida’s foreign-born residents own a greater percentage of homes than the national average, with 59.5 percent holding a deed. The percentage varies by city area, however. In Jacksonville, 63.4 percent of foreign-born immigrants have moved up to homeownership.

Of the four Florida cities cited in the Census Bureau study, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach had the lowest percentage of homeowners at 57.5 percent. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (58.5 percent) and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (62 percent) fell in the middle.

A household is designated as native- or foreign-born based on the householder, regardless of the other occupants’ nativity. A householder is the person, or one of the people, in whose name the home is owned, being bought or rented.

The report found that foreign-born naturalized citizens were more likely to own their homes than foreign-born noncitizens. In naturalized citizen households, 66 percent were owner-occupied compared to 34 percent of noncitizen households.

Rates of homeownership among foreign-born households also increased with time spent in the United States. Among foreign-born households with a householder who entered the country before 1980, nearly three-fourths owned rather than rented. Among households headed by someone who entered the U.S. since 2000, only one-fourth owned his or her home.

According to the brief, just 10 metropolitan statistical areas accounted for about half the nation’s foreign-born households in 2011, led by New York and Los Angeles, each of which had more than 1 million foreign-born households. Rounding out the top five were Miami, Chicago and Houston.

There was considerable variation based on the homeowner’s country of origin. For example, 66 percent of households from Europe were owner-occupied, compared with 40 percent of households headed by someone born in Africa. In general, foreign-born households from Europe, Asia and other regions were more likely to own their homes than those headed by someone from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.

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