Despite their recent immigrant status, Chinese Americans are leading whites and other Asian groups in homeownership in the three major gateway cities for immigrants: New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The findings are the result of a study the University of Southern California's (USC) Lusk Center for Real Estate. The study showed that Chinese immigrants are more likely than other immigrant groups to curtail spending so they can own a home.

"Chinese Americans face strong cultural pressures to buy homes. Homeownership symbolizes permanence, status, and sharing in the American dream," said Gary Painter, research coordinator for the Lusk Center. When comparing homeowners with similar income levels in Los Angeles, the homeownership rate among Chinese Americans is 20 percent higher than whites; in San Francisco, 23 percent higher; and in New York, 18 percent greater.

Researchers conducted a breakout analysis to gauge differences among Chinese immigrants from differenct countries including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In all cases, Chinese Americans surpasses whites in homeownership rates, suggesting a cultural affinity to owning a home.

Painter said the high homeownership rates Chinese Americans, "bodes well for future housing demand as these groups increase in population." Developers and real estate agents should be able to take advantage of the housing demand among Asians by crafting developments that are sensitive to the needs of these communities, he said.

As a whole, the study found that Asian households overall have similar homeownership rates as whites in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but much lower rates than whites in New York.
Among Asian immigrants in New York, Japanese Americans were least likely to own a home. Painter attributes this to the high percentage of Japanese temporary workers and students who choose to be renters.

The study, entitled 'Heterogeneity in Asian American Homeownership' was based on 1990 U.S. Census data for Chinese, Japanese, Filipino Korean, Asian Indian and other Asian groups.

Painter expected a high heterogeneity in homeownership rates among Asians Americans, which has becoming an increasingly diverse mix of cultures and values from different countries. No one Asian group comprises more than 30 percent of Asian Americans since 1980.