Journal of Property Management

This change was the result of a dramatic increase in Nevada’s minority population. Between 1980 and 2000, the Hispanic population grew by 627 percent, the Asian population by 509.9 percent and the Black population increased by 155.7 percent.

Figures for Nevada reflect demographic changes under-way across the United States. The Census Bureau predicts the country’s Hispanic and Asian populations will more than double between 2010 and 2040, with Hispanic numbers rising from 49. 7 million in 2010, to 66.4 million in 2020.

In nearly every state, newly arrived members of various ethnic groups influence everything from vegetables in supermarket produce aisles to programming on local access cable channels. It’s no wonder that immigrants are having an increasingly greater impact on the everyday interactions and long-term success of property management professionals.

“Non-English speakers are a growing part of our business,” said Pamela Monroe, CPM, IREM 2009 President and senior vice president at Community Realty Management in Pleasantville, N.J. “We need to be aware of what our demographics are and adjust our management styles accordingly to make it an easier process for a new person moving into a property who doesn’t speak English to adjust to the style of living in the United States.”

Big NumBers

Not every area of the country is affected equally by the growing immigrant population, said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that informs people around the world about population, health and the environment. States in the Midwest such as the Dakotas have experienced overall population loss, and those in the Southwest and Sunbelt have exploded in population over the last 20 to 30 years.

Currently in the United States, about half of all children under age five are members of racial or ethnic minorities, Mather said.

“If you project that forward 15 or 20 years, you can see
that it won’t be long before the next generation of work-
ers will be mostly Latino, African American or Asian,”
Mather said. “They will be adults, going out on their own
and looking for places to live, and quite possibly they will
have different preferences than people have right now.”
Characteristics common to immigrant populations can
have a positive effect on property managers over the next
few years for several reasons. This is particularly true for
those who specialize in multifamily properties consisting
of larger units.