, Columnist
The New Face of Immigration Is Changing the Housing Market
Newly arrived Americans are more likely to be buying nice suburban homes than building them. That cuts supply and adds demand.
Atlanta expansion.
Photographer: Chris Rank/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The twin shortages plaguing the U.S. in 2016 -- a shortage of cheap service labor, and a shortage of affordable housing -- are products of the same little-noticed trend: For decades, the education level of immigrants has been rising.
A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled "The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration" shows that since 1970, average educational attainment of Mexican immigrants has increased to 9.5 years from 5.7 years. For Latin American immigrants outside of Mexico, average educational attainment has increased to 11.3 years from 9.5 years. For Chinese immigrants, it's increased to 13.9 years from 10.5 years.1475072712210