Report: Immigrants key to housing recovery

One of the reasons given for the seemingly perpetual delay in the Obama administration’s ignoring of immigration reform is that it’s more vital for the White House to tackle the terrible state of the economy. Yet such an excuse belies the fact that immigration, legal and otherwise, has a notable impact of the economy.

A report released this week by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that the U.S. housing market “faces an uphill climb" to recovery. The study found that high unemployment and consumer debt have hurt the housing market as “sales of both new and existing homes continued to struggle to find a bottom.”

Researchers cited groups such as so-called “echo boomers” as key to maintain a future recovery. Take a guess at who the study also cited:

A perceived strain on government resources has caused some Americans to begrudge the country's immigrant population. But Harvard researchers, in a new white paper released Monday, are saying that a slowdown in immigration could hurt the long-term real estate market…

While the natural ebb and flow of family formations is expected to reinvigorate housing, the unknown variable, future immigration levels, "remain a wild card that could either dampen housing demand or lift production even higher." Fewer people have been moving to the U.S. since job opportunities have slumped, and if this continues "a deep, prolonged recession would likely suppress immigration to levels that are never fully made up.

Furthermore, the report said that “minorities will fuel 73 percent of household growth in 2010-20, with Hispanics leading the way at 36 percent.”

But go ahead and keep up the delays, boys. Your short-sightedness has become a sad joke.

Image- MSN Money
Online Sources- Joint Center for Housing Studies, Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg, Forbes, Politico