Are Immigrants Buying to Get In?: The Role of Ethnic Clustering on the Homeownership Propensities of 12 Toronto Ethnic Groups, 1996-2001

Michael Haan, University of Toronto

Numerous studies equate immigrant homeownership with assimilation into the residential mainstream, though only rarely is this claim verified by studying the ethnic character of neighborhoods where immigrants actually buy homes. In this study I use the 1996 and 2001 census of Canada master files and bivariate probit models with sample selection corrections (a.k.a. Heckman probit models) to assess the neighborhood-level ethnic determinants of homeownership in Toronto, Canada. By determining whether low levels of ethnic concentration accompany a home purchase, I can assess whether immigrants exit their enclaves in search of a home in the ‘promised land’, as traditional assimilation theory suggests, or if some now seek homes in the ‘ethnic communities’ that Logan, Alba and Zhang (2002) recently introduced. Assessing the role of concentration under equilibrium conditions, I find that same-group concentration positively affects the propensity to buy homes for Chinese and Italians, and dissuades Jamaicans to buy homes.