If the stats to a new study are any indication, passing immigration reform could provide a huge boost to the U.S. housing market in less than a decade.
A new study released this week by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, projects that roughly 2.1 million homes could be purchased by immigrants in 2020 if immigration reform is passed.
According to Andrew Winkler, the Director of Housing Policy for the American Action Forum and the author of the study, policies that encourage net migration would attract more immigrants likely to find a home.
"This increased homeownership would encourage greater residential construction along with the virtuous economic effects of household purchasing that comes with a new home, particularly in metro areas that attract foreign- born residents," he writes in the study.
The findings were based on home ownership figures in the last two years compiled by age group. However, as NBC Latino reports, Winkler noted that the number of future homeowners was conservative because projections did not include the 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
Yet, Winkler points out that the areas that suffered most after the housing market crashed were immigrant-heavy areas such as California, Nevada and Texas. Adding new homeowners to those sectors would give a boost to the economy, he argued.
"Since there is low inventory, immigrants buying more homes will have several economic benefits," says Wrinkler, "Not only will there be more construction, and job creation, but when you buy a home, you buy furniture, you paint, all things that add to the economy recovery."
Winkler also notes that a foundation study found that immigration would also raise the pace of economic growth by about a percentage point over the near term and reduce the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion.
Of course, Winkler's study comes in contrast to a recent Heritage Foundation study that agrued that legalizing "unlawful immigrants" would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion over time.
The study has been since criticized by GOP legislators and prompted protests this week from pro-immigration activists calling for Heritage president Jim Demint to resign.
Regarding the potential housing boom that could come from immigration reform, another study released recently from the University of Southern California backs that assertion. In the study, statistics find that nearly 36 percent of the increased demand for U.S. homes in the current decade comes from immigrants.
The bulk of that growth, as noted in USA Today, should come from immigrant-heavy states such as New York, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, Connecticut and Michigan.
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