The subject of illegal immigration has always been one of those thorny, “Don’t-Discuss-In-Polite-Company” political issues sure to ignite heated partisan fervor. This was the case long before President Trump made it one of his campaign’s central themes.

We’ll forego wading into the incendiary debate on the issue. Instead, we’re interested in taking a cold, hard look at what the immigration numbers ultimately mean for the U.S. housing market. There are some interesting findings.

In this excerpt from The Macro Show, U.S. Macro analyst Christian Drake highlights key data on illegal immigration to the U.S. Making no political judgements about the issue, Drake runs through the numbers, explaining how the precipitous drop in illegal immigration post-Election Day might impact the U.S. housing market.

For instance, did you know…

  • The number of Cuban migrants caught by US Coast Guard is down -52% year-to-date
  • Apprehensions at the Southwest U.S. border are down -64% year-over-year in May

How might this affect the U.S. housing market? It’s hard to say precisely, but here is some additional color:

  • Foreign born population’s contribution to total U.S. population growth has averaged 27.7% between 1980 and 2010
  • Foreign born households as a percentage of total U.S. households was 28% in 2016, versus the 15-year non-recessionary (used because immigration is cyclical) average of 33.8%

Saying nothing about the politics of illegal immigration, these are some interesting stats… Watch the video above for additional insights.