Immigrants own homes at similar rate as U.S. born

Half of the immigrants in the country owned homes last year compared to 66 percent of U.S.-born residents, the Trulia study showed.

That gap is the smallest between the two groups in decades. In 2001, about 70 percent of US.-born residents owned homes versus about 50 percent of immigrants.

The study also showed that one reason immigrants own more homes is that they have stayed in the U.S. longer than in previous years.

In 2014, 75 percent of immigrants had lived in the U.S. at least 10 years, compared with 65 percent in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The home-ownership rate for U.S.-born residents took a hit during the housing crisis and recession of 2008, at one point reaching a 50-year low of 62.9 percent.

Some reasons: Immigrants are likely to have a job before they immigrate, especially for jobs such as engineering, and computer sciences, areas where there is a lack of U.S. talent.