Blog: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month – Q&A with Prominent Housing Leaders
As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, USMI reached out to prominent leaders in the housing finance and mortgage industries to discuss their work and perspectives on the goal of increasing Hispanic homeownership in America. In a recent blog post, USMI highlighted that the Hispanic homeownership rate has steadily increased for the past seven years, reaching 48.4% in 2021, up from 47.5% in 2019, with an average increase of nearly one percentage point every two years, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professional’s (NAHREP) “2021 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report.” In addition, the Urban Institute predicts that Hispanics will account for 70% of homeownership growth over the next 20 years.
But Hispanics, like so many others, face a tight housing market with historic record low levels of affordable homes and record high home price appreciation (HPA), coupled with systemic issues such as large income gaps and lack of intergenerational wealth. Considering this environment and the fact that most Hispanic homebuyers are young and first-time buyers, what can the U.S. housing leaders and other stakeholders do to create an environment that is more conducive to first-time homebuyers, especially communities of color? This and other questions are answered below by prominent industry leaders.
Senator Bob Menendez
“Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to think about how we are going to continue to make progress, and homeownership is an area where we have a lot of room to grow.”
Brian Montgomery, former Deputy Secretary of HUD
“Hispanic Americans will succeed if, in part, we innovate our way out of our current challenges.”
Luis Padilla, NAHREP® President
“As we celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of Hispanic Americans this Hispanic Heritage Month, we can’t forget that our work is not done.”
