05/12/2026
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI/AAPI) Heritage Month! We celebrated this every May in the US to honor the history, culture, and contributions of AAPI communities.
In regards to housing history, the AAPI community illustrated resilience against exclusionary policies, the development of ethnic enclaves, and high rates of multigenerational living. Historically, Asian immigrants faced discriminatory laws like the 1913 Alien Land Act, which prohibited them from owning land.
There are some challenges and barriers to homeownership that are experienced particularly, or more frequently, by AAPI groups. For example, a great deal of cost-burdened AAPI households are of Limited English Proficiency. In addition, AAPI groups are more likely to live in multigenerational households. The same report specifies that Asians are four times more likely to do so, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) are seven times more likely, resulting in overcrowding and extreme cost burdens.
Ultimately, this country has a long way to go before housing inequality is a thing relegated to our past and not our present. As the population of AAPIs continues to climb, it is key that researchers and policymakers break from the problematic tradition of lumping all included ethnicities into a single category, as it leads to misleading aggregated data which erases diverse identities and obscures those who would benefit from targeted assistance.
🔗 Read more here: https://www.unison.com/blog/aapi-homeownership
