Hispanic Homeownership and Business Growth Drive a Landmark Year for Latino Wealth

The 2026 State of Hispanic Wealth Report Asks Whether That Growth Can Survive Washington's Latest Policies

Las Vegas, Sept. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals® (NAHREP®), the nation’s largest Hispanic business organization, and the Hispanic Wealth Project™ (HWP) today unveiled the 2026 State of Hispanic Wealth Report (SHWR) at NAHREP at AVANCE Global in Las Vegas.

Hispanic households drove all of the net growth in U.S. homeownership last year, with Hispanic-owned homes reaching a record 10.2 million in 2025 and Hispanic families forming 1.1 million new households, 92.6 percent of all U.S. household growth. Latino entrepreneurship is climbing just as fast: Hispanic-owned employer firms reached nearly 496,000 in 2023, up 49.5 percent over five years, more than 13 times the growth rate of all U.S. employer firms, generating $832 billion in annual revenue. Those gains build on a decade of progress that has already more than tripled Hispanic household wealth since HWP's founding in 2014 and narrowed the proportional wealth gap with non-Hispanic White households from $8.87 to $4.47 for every dollar of Hispanic wealth. But the report warns that federal policy changes are already straining the Latino households and businesses fueling this growth, in ways that could undercut future gains.

"The 2026 State of Hispanic Wealth Report provides an important and timely look at how Latino families are shaping the economic future of the United States," said Beto Pallares, PhD, Executive Director of the Hispanic Wealth Project. "This report celebrates the progress already made and reminds us that Hispanic prosperity is essential to America's continued economic strength."

The gains span all four of HWP's wealth-building pillars, which together account for more than 91 percent of Hispanic household wealth. Real estate remains the largest, at 45.5 percent, powered by that record-setting homeownership growth, with Hispanic homeowners holding 26.4 times the net worth of renters. Business equity (17.8 percent) is close behind: growth has been concentrated among scaled Hispanic-owned firms earning at least $1 million in annual revenue, which drove 86 percent of the net increase in Hispanic-owned employer firms and 36 percent of employment growth. Financial assets (28.1 percent) are growing too, with nearly half of Hispanic households now holding a tax-preferred retirement account, up from historic lows, while Latino trust ownership rose from 7.0 percent to 11.1 percent in the past year alone, a sign that families are protecting wealth as fast as they're building it.

For the first time, the SHWR devotes a dedicated section to policy risk, finding that expanded immigration enforcement and new restrictions on SBA lending and financial services are already creating hardship for Latino-owned businesses, more than half of which are immigrant-owned. The report frames these policies as a threat to the entire wealth-creation engine it documents, with consequences it argues extend well beyond Hispanic households to the broader U.S. economy.

"Every data point in this report tells the same story: Latino families are building wealth faster than anyone else in America, and they're doing it despite new obstacles being put in their path," said Edwin Acevedo, 2026 NAHREP President. "Protecting this progress is good for the entire U.S. economy."

The release anchors NAHREP at AVANCE Global, where the Hispanic Wealth Project, AVANCE Sports, the National Hispanic Construction Alliance (NHCA), and The Alumni Society come together around the shared belief that Latino prosperity equals American prosperity. The full 2026 State of Hispanic Wealth Report is available at hispanicwealthproject.org/annual-report.

For more information and to download the 2025 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report, visit nahrep.org/shwr.

About NAHREP:
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals® (NAHREP®), a nonprofit 501(c)(6) trade association, is dedicated to advancing sustainable homeownership for the Hispanic community in America. NAHREP has a network of over 62,000 real estate professionals and 100 local chapters nationwide. It hosts several national events per year and publishes multiple industry cornerstone reports and multimedia content annually. Join us in advocating for policies that grow sustainable Latino homeownership; read our 2025 policy priorities here.

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