55% Indian-Americans own house in US: Homeownership report

Though Indian-Americans have the distinction of being the highest-per capita income group among ethnic communities, they lag far behind their European counterparts when it comes to owning a house in the US.

According to the 'Homeownership Among the Foreign-Born Population: 2011', released by the Census Bureau, 55 per cent of the Indian-Americans own a house of their own while 45 live in rented accommodation.

Foreign-born owned households with a householder from Europe were the most likely to be owned free and clear (40 per cent), while foreign-born owned households with a householder from Africa were the least likely to be owned free and clear (14 per cent), it said.

Of the 20 country-of-birth groups with the largest number of foreign-born households in the US, several countries from Europe along with Canada had the highest homeownership rates.

Over 70 per cent of foreign-born households with a householder from Canada (71 per cent), Germany (72 per cent), Italy (79 per cent), and the United Kingdom (73 per cent) were owner occupied.

By comparison, less than one-third of the foreign-born households with a householder born in the Dominican Republic (25 per cent), Guatemala (30 per cent), and Honduras (31 per cent), were owner occupied. Italy and Germany were also among the country-of-birth groups with the highest percentage of owned homes that were owned free and clear.

About half of foreign-born households that were owned and had householders from Italy and Germany owned their homes free and clear (55 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively).

"Home ownership is a goal shared by many residents of the United States, both native- and foreign-born, citizen and non-citizen," said 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 US - making the transition from renter to homeowner represents a significant investment in the United States," Grieco said.

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