Study shows Latino homebuyers looking for “trusted advisersMortgagePress.comMinorities, Homeowners, Advisers, National Association of Realtors, Tomas Rivera Policy Institute of the University,
More than half of Latino homebuyers report that one of their
chief barriers to homeownership is finding a trustworthy adviser
who can guide them through the home buying process, according to a
study released at the National
Association of Realtors Annual Conference and Expo in Orlando,
Fla.
Conducted by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute of the University
of Southern California, the survey of 1,400 Mexican Americans in
Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles showed that at least 1.5 million
Latino households will buy homes by 2010. But the report indicated
that the housing industry could help another 700,000 families
become homeowners by providing Latino renters with bilingual
outreach, counseling and access to innovative mortgage products.
Though homeownership is always one of the highest goals among most
immigrant families, the survey showed that the lack of trusted
sources of information is a key barrier to homeownership facing
Mexican American families. Other obstacles include unfamiliarity
with the mortgage process, saving for a down payment and finding a
trustworthy adviser.
Real estate agents who help buyers overcome such obstacles will
stand to gain in the coming years as minority populations and their
buying power increase rapidly, said National Association of Hispanic Real
Estate Professionals Chair and Cofounder Gary Acosta. Those
difficulties constitute problems we need to solve, but they also
point to important opportunities that will result from bringing
members of the underserved group into the mainstream. As trusted,
well-informed advisers, realtors have the ability to help an entire
generation of Latino families achieve the American dream of
homeownership."
Another study, by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the
University of Georgia, released at NARs forum on diversity
indicated that the combined buying power of all minority groups,
including African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics and Asian
Americans, would exceed $1.5 trillion by 2009, constituting the
fifth largest economy in the world.
Oscar Gonzales, director of the Asian Real Estate Association of
America and president of The Gonzales Group of Sugar Land,
Texas, provided additional insight in the form of a new study on
Asian homeownership.
While Census data and other sources reveal a population that has
made great strides in almost every aspect of American life, the
Asian American population remains one with many families struggling
to realize dreams of a better life, including homeownership, he
said. Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic population,
numbering more than 12 million or approximately 4.5 percent of the
total U.S. population. This group is expected to triple in size by
the year 2050. Yet, despite the myth of a prosperous community,
nationally Asian American homeownership rates fall behind those of
non-Hispanic Whites by approximately 20 percent. These findings
affirm our mission and goals to expand the awareness of housing
challenges facing Asian Americans.
