Hispanic Americans will eventually make the majority of new homeowners in the United States, but lenders today may not be addressing all of their needs.

The demographic accounted for 9.2% of all mortgages in 2021, a slight uptick from the year prior according to the most recent Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Industry leaders predict a fast rise for Hispanic American homeownership, estimated to account for 56% of all new homeowners by 2030 according to a report from Freddie Mac. 

Some mortgage players are making efforts to improve language access to the more than 39 million Spanish speakers in the country. Still, nearly a quarter of self-identified Latino and Hispanic borrowers who completed the mortgage process last year cite language as an impediment in applying, according to a survey by mortgage fintech Maxwell.

Lenders' push to reach prospective Spanish-speaking borrowers is more important than a year ago, when companies could rely on the sheer volume of applicants to be successful, said Rutul Dave, co-founder and chief technology officer at Maxwell.

"Going forward, as you need to ensure that each and every lead and each and every borrower that comes into your pipeline feels that trust when they work with you. That's amplified the need for having better support, especially when it comes to support for Spanish language," he said. 

Maxwell last October surveyed 1,100 borrowers in the demographic who completed the mortgage process in the prior six months, with a majority of respondents also in the Millennial age range. National Mortgage News identified five insights about Hispanic American homeowners lenders need to know.