Hispanic families in the United States are in the middle of their own baby boom, and their growth holds significant implications for real estate agents.

The Wall Street Journal today reports Census Bureau estimates that births among Hispanics accounted for half (1.4 million) of the 2.8 million people added to the U.S. population between July 2004 and July 2005. Moreover, in the past 5 years, three times more Hispanics were born in the U.S. than were whites. As a result, Hispanics constitute the nation’s largest minority group.

Age comparisons between Hispanics and other races differ sharply too, The Journal says. The median age of Hispanics in the U.S. is 27; for African Americans, it’s 37; and for whites, it’s slightly higher than 40. A third of the Hispanic population is younger than 18, compared with only 22 percent of whites, and 25 percent of the population generally.

With young Hispanics starting new families, and with existing Hispanic families growing, the group’s housing demands are sure to increase. Many likely will turn for home buying help to real estate agents prepared to serve them.

I thought about that preparation as I envisioned my daughter Erin (pictured at right, hugging her mother upon returning from a trip to Costa Rica). She graduates later this week from Virginia Tech University with dual bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish. Yes, I’m a proud father, but I’m envious as well. Erin is now fluent in both written and spoken English and Spanish. I, on the other hand – like so many other Americans – speak and write only English. I’m therefore unprepared to serve this country’s fastest growing demographic in need of real estate services.

I’m unprepared in another way as well. My marketing efforts wouldn’t be seen by many Hispanics, even those who speak English and so who potentially could be my clients, because I’m not found on Internet websites they’re likely to visit. Today’s Journal, in a separate article, also reports that online ad spending targeted at Hispanics will rise 32 percent this year, compared with only a 25-percent increase in Internet ad spending overall. Growth of Hispanic users on the Internet is so compelling that Yahoo Inc. and NBC Universal’s Telemundo network say they will merge their Spanish-language websites in the U.S. to better position themselves for profit.

Just as the economics of real estate markets are changing, so too are the markets themselves. To be relevant to our clients of the future, we must walk their walk and talk their talk … literally and figuratively. Which means that, to be competitive, some “agents-turned-adult-learners” must return to school as Erin leaves it.