According to the association, immigrants have contributed to one-third of the household growth in the nation since 1995. This has helped sustain the robust residential housing market as well as the demand for commercial real estate as immigrants sell goods and services in shopping centers, manufacture products, operate warehouses and use office space.

Eight factors affect homebuying decisions for immigrants, including age, citizenship, length of time in the country, education and income, family composition and size, region of origin, location and home financing.

"Immigrants are an important part of the U.S. population whose characteristics are sometimes overlooked when people consider what drives homebuying decisions. As this report shows, immigrants are a growing market that contribute a great deal to the American economy and are expected to play an even greater role in the housing market over the coming decades," said Martin Edwards Jr., the association's president.

The report shows that homeownership rates for older immigrants who have been in the United States for 20 years match or even surpass those of native-born citizens. Since immigrants tend to cluster in a few states, the impact of immigration on housing activity tends to be regional.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to jnewton@jnpr.com.