Excerpts from this article in bloomberg.com:

Efforts to revamp U.S. immigration laws may bring at least one unintended benefit for the economy: The nascent housing recovery will probably get an added boost.

The number of foreign-born homeowners will increase by 2.8 million in the decade ending 2020, compared with a 2.4 million gain in the previous 10 years, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association study that didn’t assess the potential impact of any new legislation.

Research by a group of Hispanic real-estate agents concludes the increase could be even bigger if undocumented workers were put on a path to citizenship.

Passage of an immigration bill may generate about 3 million more homebuyers over the next several years, according to a report last week from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals in San Diego.

Yadira Ortiz of San Marcos, California, is a case in point. The 24-year-old lab technician arrived from Mexico in 1993. She and her husband bought their first house in December, a $308,000 three-bedroom, two-bath property.

Ortiz, who has two daughters, said she was inspired by her parents and considers her home an investment to “help our children in the long term.”

“I appreciate that my parents decided to come here and give us a better future,” Ortiz said. “They have worked hard and they don’t get paid that much but they have their own home, they can afford their home. I saw how hard they were working and I decided to do the same thing.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-02/immigrant-dreams-to-keep-sparking-u-s-housing-recovery.html