Immigrants Might Save the Housing Market
June 22, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
According to a new report by Harvard researchers, immigration might be the factor that keeps the housing market on the path to recovery. If immigration were to slow down, the resulting lack of customers would hurt the real estate market further on down the line, meaning that the group of researchers recommends no dramatic changes to immigration policy.
The same Harvard economists cite the current unemployment crisis as the major factor keeping the housing market from recovering more quickly. On a more optimistic note, the economists concluded that the housing market continues to correct itself as more and more home prices fall and fewer homes are produced.
Right now, the impact of immigration in the future remains a big question mark, mostly because researchers cannot accurately predict the number of immigrants to the United States many years from now. However, the report does account for the fact that subsequent generations of U.S. citizens are more populous than before, which means that a drop in immigration may be cushioned by a larger number of Americans.
Ellis Island (Image: Flickr)
