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36 | TH E M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION The State of Hispanic Homeownership New Census Bureau data gives an overview of housing trends among Hispanics. T he 2018 State of His- panic Ownership Re- port shows the number of Hispanics owning a home is on the rise, but so is how much they pay for them. The report, which was com- piled from statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau, states that 42.8% of Hispanic homebuyers are likely to have an FHA loan. In comparison, 79.4% of non-Hispanic homebuyers use conventional financing. According to the report, Hispanics are also more likely to pay mortgage insurance premiums for the life of their FHA mort- gage, which increases the monthly out-of-pocket expenses. Hispanics are not only reportedly paying more for homes, but they are also occupying more of them, as homeownership rates increased to 47.1% in 2018 from 45.6% in 2015—a net gain of 362,000 homeowners. Hispanics also posted their largest homeownership gain in 13 years. The report states that despite concerns about housing inventory and changing govern- ment policies for homeowner- ship, the leading indicators, such as household formation, income trends, age, and consumer senti- ment, Hispanics will continue to drive homeownership gains in America for the foreseeable future. Hispanics accounted for 62.7% of net U.S. homeownership gains over the past decade, growing from roughly 6.3 million home- owners to approximately 7.9 million. For the fourth consecu- tive year, Hispanics were the only ethnic demographic group to increase their homeownership. The changing housing market correlates to the impact Hispanics are having to the population and the workforce. The Hispanic population is 18.1% (58.9 million) of the overall U.S. population. By 2045, non- Hispanic Whites will shrink to 49.7% and will no longer be the majority population in the United States, according to the report. Hispanics represent 66.3% of the labor force population. California's 2018 Hispanic popu- lation of approximately 15.5 mil- lion was the highest in the nation. Texas' reported Hispanic popula- tion of 11.2 million was second. Home Builders Check In What trends are stoking builders' confidence in the housing market? H ome builder confidence moved up slightly re- cently, according to data from the National Asso- ciation of Home Builders(NAHB)/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose one point to 63 in April, and the NAHB notes that sentiment levels have remained in the low 60s for the past three months. Builders report solid demand for new single-family homes but they are also grappling with afford- ability concerns stemming from a chronic shortage of construc- tion workers and buildable lots," NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde said. "Ongoing job growth, favorable demographics, and a low-interest rate environment will help to modestly spark sales growth in the near term," NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said. "However, supply-side headwinds that are put- ting upward pressure on housing costs will limit more robust growth in the housing market." Builder confidence hit a high of 70 in May 2018, but has stayed in the 60s and high 50s since. However, the Index's Present Single Family Sales component has remained slightly higher in the past year, with a slight decline to 61 in December 2018. The NAHB's Present Single Family Sales Index component for April is 71. The HMI index gauging cur- rent sales conditions increased one point to 69, and the component measuring traffic of prospective buyers rose three points to 47. The measure charting sales expec- tations in the next six months fell one point to 71. By region, the Midwest saw the biggest month over month gain. The West lead with the highest in- dex score. Year-over-year, however, the West has dropped from 76. Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast posted a three-point gain to 51, the Midwest increased two points to 53, and the South was up one point to 67. The West remained unchanged at 69. The Hispanic population is 18.1% (58.9 million) of the overall U.S. population. By 2045, non-Hispanic Whites will shrink to 49.7% and will no longer be the majority population. 18.1%