Who buys homes? Why do they buy them? And how do they go about the process? Inquiring minds want to know. Answers come from a recent study by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The center recently conducted a “Home Buying Among Ethnic Groups Survey” by interviewing 4,080 individuals over the age of 18 to find out their personal views towards and experience with home ownership and the home buying process.

Interviews were conducted with 880 White non-Hispanics, 1,870 Hispanics, 772 African-Americans and 481 Asians.

Allow us to share with you some of the key findings, categorized by racial/ethnic group.

African Americans

Four out of ten are likely to buy a home in the next few years
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Little more than half are willing to pay more than their current rent to own a home
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The most common reasons for buying a new home are needing more space; reaching a certain age; a new job in a new location; and low interest rates
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More than other groups, they think various aspects of the home-buying process are easy
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Have high opinions of real estate agents, and are more likely to think that using an agent is a good idea
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They learn about neighborhoods by driving through them, personal contacts, visiting real estate offices, and local newspaper listings
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The first person they go to for real estate advice is a broker or agent, then their parents, and a mortgage company
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Asians

More likely than other groups to buy a home in the next few years.
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Willing to pay more than their current rent to own a home.
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The most common reasons for buying a home are a job in a new location; needing more space; low interest rates; and reaching a certain level of wealth.
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Most think various aspects of the home buying experience are easy, though the
most difficult aspect is figuring out if they got a good deal.
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They have generally positive views of agents.
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They learn about neighborhoods through real estate media; driving through specific neighborhoods, and personal contacts.
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The first person they go to for real estate advice is a broker, then their parents.

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About half are likely to buy a home in the next few years.
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Nearly half want to pay the same or less than their current rent to own a home.
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The main reasons for buying a home are needing more space; getting married; and low interest rates.
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They are more likely than other groups to think various aspects of the home buying experience are difficult.
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Nearly half think agents don’t take the time to understand one’s needs, and they are the least likely to think agents earn their fees by providing valuable services.
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They learn about neighborhoods from personal contacts, driving through neighborhoods, visiting real estate offices.
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The first person they go to for real estate advice is a parent, then a real estate broker or agent.
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They are the least likely to buy a home in the next few years.
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Most willing to pay significantly more than their current rent to own a home.
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The main reasons they buy homes are for more space and getting a new job in a new location.
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They think most aspects of the home-buying experience are easy, though the most difficult is finding an agent they are comfortable with.
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Have generally positive views of agents, though are least likely to think it’s a good idea to use an agent to buy or sell a home.
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Least likely of all groups to use real estate sources to learn about neighborhoods.
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The first person they go to for real estate advice is a broker or agent, then their parents, then a builder.

For more information on the Home Buying Among Ethnic Groups Survey conducted by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University go to http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/harrissurvey.pdf.