Immigrants fuel recent area boom in housing - Newcomers plant roots, benefit local economies, census study's author says

Immigrants fuel recent area boom in housing - Newcomers plant roots, benefit local economies, census study's author says
By Oscar Avila and Sara Olkon
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published October 17, 2006


Immigrants drove much of the Chicago-area's recent housing boom, making up more than half of the region's gain in homeowners from 2000 to 2005, according to a census analysis released Tuesday.

The role immigrants played in the rush to homeownership was most vivid in suburban Cook County, where 81 percent of the 42,000 additional homeowners were immigrants.

The increase in immigrants in the suburbs has been well-documented, but the study's author said the data confirm that the newcomers are planting roots and contributing to the economy.

"These findings are very interesting because most people unquestionably accept homeownership as a social good," said Rob Paral, a fellow at the American Immigration Law Foundation and the study's author. "We want homeowners. It implies stability, and it implies a lot of spending."

The study, commissioned by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, an advocacy group, does not address how long immigrants had been in the U.S. before buying real estate or break down the kind of housing they bought.

Instead, it looks at the overall growth in homeownership across eight counties, which totaled nearly 2.2 million by 2005. The region gained about 219,000 homeowners in those five years, 52 percent of whom were born in other countries.

The number of renters across the region declined by fewer than 1,000.

City officials and real-estate agents said the inner ring suburbs absorbed much of the ownership boom because they often provide affordable alternatives to gentrifying Chicago neighborhoods.

Berwyn affordable

Arnie Alanis, of Century 21 Roblen Realty in Berwyn, said the city, which historically attracted Eastern European immigrants, is now drawing Mexicans because they can find three-bedroom bungalows for as little as $249,000.

"It's affordable. It's that simple," Alanis said.

Homeownership has transformed Jose Artemio Arreola's life. The 41-year-old school janitor, a native of Mexico, rented for almost a decade before buying his first house, on Chicago's Northwest Side in 1998.

In 2001 he joined the ownership boom in Cook County's suburbs, buying a two-flat in the 1300 block of Wisconsin Avenue in Berwyn for about $270,000. He and his wife fixed it up and now rent out three apartments--bringing in an extra $2,250 a month.

The extra income has let him live more comfortably and build wealth, enough to afford a time-share in Florida. Arreola, one of the organizers of recent immigrant marches, also started a program to bring computers to his native Michoacan. He owns three cars.

"Without buying, I'd never have seen any of this," he said. "Your life changes when you own land. You stand up."

The study does not factor in social costs generated by immigrant growth, including strains on city services and classroom space to accommodate immigrants and their children. Also, the region continues to absorb undocumented immigrants, who typically lack health insurance and must turn to emergency rooms for basic medical care.

State Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) said he had not seen the study but said the data appear to be incomplete if they don't include the social costs of illegal immigrants.

Lauzen has tried, in vain, to push a bill that would weigh the costs and benefits of illegal immigration statewide.

"It is only fair if we are really searching for the truth," he said.

But even undocumented immigrants have contributed a small share of the homeownership growth.

The Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group in Chicago estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 undocumented immigrant households have secured mortgages in the Chicago area by using tax ID numbers instead of Social Security numbers, which is legal for banks that keep the home loans in-house.

Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the non-profit Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, acknowledged that the study doesn't tackle the costs of increased services. But Hoyt said the survey is politically important, confirming that immigrants "are contributing to our prosperity. People need to put away the blazing rhetoric and look at the reality."

Though Hoyt's group commissioned the report, it was requested by a state panel created by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to explore immigrant issues, and funded by the Joyce Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust.


Replacing older Americans

Paral said the data also show that immigrants are replacing older U.S.-born workers and homeowners who are retiring, dying or moving out of state.

The number of U.S.-born workers in the state declined during the period of the study. At the same time, Illinois saw an increase of nearly 200,000 immigrant workers, at both ends of the job spectrum, unskilled and professional.

While immigrants drove job growth in restaurants and construction, they also represented about 38 percent of the growth statewide in college graduates, the study found.

Experts expect immigrant homeownership in the suburbs to continue its growth, particularly as more immigrants bypass the city altogether.

Erika Colon, 25, a server at The Lucky Dog in Cicero, and her husband, Ignacio, are part of the continuing wave.

The Colons, who have three children, recently closed on a home in the 1900 block of 57th Avenue in Cicero. Erika Colon said the purchase has been an important milestone for her family.

"It's better for yourself, your kids, for sense of community," Colon said.

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