Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) households are among the fastest-growing populations in the US. But research and policy have long overlooked how access to homeownership—and the ability to build and sustain wealth over the life course—varies across diverse AANHPI households and places.
This project brings together new national analyses, community-informed insights, and regional spotlights to examine homeownership dynamics, wealth-building trajectories, and housing stability risks across AANHPI communities. It represents one of the first comprehensive efforts to document how AANHPI households have pursued homeownership and wealth-building pathways over the past several decades and how these pathways differ across stage of life, ethnicity, and geography.
These insights can help inform policies and practices to support first-generation homebuyers, strengthen intergenerational wealth-building opportunities, and improve housing stability across federal, state, and local contexts.
Research and Insights
Explore the resources below to learn about the barriers and opportunities for homeownership and wealth building among AANHPI households, the importance of disaggregated data for understanding within-group differences, and emerging risks related to housing instability and homelessness.
Regional Spotlights
To understand how access to homeownership opportunities varies across different housing markets, we examined mortgage lending patterns across three metropolitan areas with large and growing AANHPI populations: San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California (the San Francisco metropolitan statistical area, or MSA); New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania (the New York City MSA); and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (the Dallas MSA).
San Francisco and New York City have long-established AANHPI populations, while AANHPI communities have grown rapidly in Dallas in recent decades. Together, these MSAs reflect a mix of long-standing gateway regions and hubs of new growth, with different housing affordability conditions and lending environments.
For each region, we analyze
- the purchase loan channel composition—Federal Housing Administration (FHA), US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), private-label securities (PLS), and portfolio loans—which provides insight into how borrowers access different segments of the mortgage finance system;
- the share of AANHPI borrowers receiving loans from banks, which illustrates the role of banks relative to nonbanks in shaping access to mortgage credit; and
- the prevalence and lending characteristics of first-generation homebuyers, which highlight whether local homeownership patterns are driven more by new market entrants or repeat buyers and help contextualize differences in borrowing profiles across regions.
This analysis primarily reflects patterns among only Asian American borrowers within these regions because our calculations rely on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data and American Housing Survey data, which identify Asian American borrowers but don’t separately identify Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households at the MSA level.
Together, these indicators can help policymakers, lenders, and community stakeholders identify opportunities to improve access to homeownership.
Select a region below to explore its mortgage lending patterns.
Source: 2024 one-year American Community Survey data and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
Notes: FHA = Federal Housing Administration; GSE = government-sponsored enterprise; MSA = metropolitan statistical area; PLS = private-label securities; VA = US Department of Veterans Affairs.
In the San Francisco MSA, Asian American borrowers are more likely than other groups to receive loans held in portfolio and less likely to receive FHA-backed loans, reflecting distinct home purchase financing channels in high-cost housing markets.
Source: 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Bob Avery lender file data.
Note: MSA = metropolitan statistical area.
Though most people get mortgages through banks, the highest shares are among Asian American households. Banks originate nearly 67 percent of all loans Asian American households hold, compared with 63 percent for white households, 48 percent for Black households, and 46 percent for Hispanic households.
Source: 2023 American Housing Survey data and 2024 HMDA data.
Notes: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; MSA = metropolitan statistical area. First-time homebuyer share data come from the American Housing Survey. Debt-to-income ratio, loan-to-value ratio, and income data come from HMDA data.
Nearly 59 percent of Asian American borrowers in this MSA are first-time homebuyers—substantially higher than the share among white borrowers—highlighting the importance of pathways into homeownership for first-time buyers who are Asian American households in this high-cost housing market. At the same time, Asian American borrowers tend to have relatively high median incomes and moderate loan-to-value ratios compared with other groups, reflecting the financial requirements of accessing homeownership in the region.
Source: 2024 one-year American Community Survey data and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
Notes: FHA = Federal Housing Administration; GSE = government-sponsored enterprise; MSA = metropolitan statistical area; PLS = private-label securities; VA = US Department of Veterans Affairs.
About 71.5 percent of purchase lending to Asian American borrowers is through the GSE channel, while FHA lending plays a much smaller role. This highlights the central role of conventional mortgage channels in supporting access to homeownership in this MSA.
Source: 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Bob Avery lender file data.
Notes: MSA = metropolitan statistical area.
Sixty-one percent of Asian American borrowers have loans originated by banks, significantly more than Black, Hispanic, and white households. This pattern indicates that bank lending plays a particularly important role in supporting mortgage access for Asian American borrowers in this market, compared with nonbank lenders (e.g., independent mortgage companies).
Sources: 2023 American Housing Survey data and 2024 HMDA data.
Notes: HMDA = Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; MSA = metropolitan statistical area. First-time homebuyer share data come from the American Housing Survey. Debt-to-income ratio, loan-to-value ratio, and income data come from HMDA data.
Asian American borrowers in this MSA have the lowest average loan-to-value ratio (67.7 percent) among the groups shown, compared with higher ratios for Black borrowers (78.4 percent), Hispanic borrowers (78.9 percent), and white borrowers (69.0 percent). This indicates that Asian American households in may be entering homeownership with larger down payments.
Sources: 2024 one-year American Community Survey data and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
Notes: FHA = Federal Housing Administration; GSE = government-sponsored enterprise; MSA = metropolitan statistical area; PLS = private-label securities; VA = US Department of Veterans Affairs.
More than half of home purchase loans to Asian American borrowers (55.2 percent) are backed by government-sponsored enterprises. Portfolio loans also play a substantial role, accounting for 32.0 percent of loans, which is considerably higher than the channel’s share among Black and Hispanic borrowers. Asian American borrowers in this MSA rely more heavily on conventional and portfolio loan products when entering homeownership.
Source: 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Bob Avery lender file data.
Note: MSA = metropolitan statistical area.
Banks originate only 18.8 percent of purchase loans to Asian households, compared with 29.0 percent for Hispanic households and 26.4 percent for white households. This suggests that nonbank lenders play a central role in supporting mortgage access for Asian borrowers in this MSA.
Sources: 2023 American Housing Survey data and 2024 HMDA data.
Notes: HMDA = Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; MSA = metropolitan statistical area. First-time homebuyer share data come from the American Housing Survey. Debt-to-income ratio, loan-to-value ratio, and income data come from HMDA data.
Asian American homebuyers represent the highest share of first-time homebuyers (61.5 percent), compared with 34.4 percent for white borrowers. At the same time, Asian American borrowers report higher median incomes, suggesting that many Asian American households entering homeownership in this market may be high earners. This pattern may reflect the role of Dallas as a destination for skilled workforce migration, particularly in technology and professional sectors.
This project is funded by the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA). We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of our experts. More information on our funding principles is available here. Read our terms of service here.
