Latino demand draws dilemma

September 24, 2002

Study examines group's housing changes and impact on Southern California


Inman News Features

A report dealing with both the long and short-term implications of the exploding demand for housing in the Southern California Latino community will be presented tomorrow at the Santa Ana Performing Arts Center in Santa Ana, Calif.

Some of the study's findings already released were that last year, Latino home buyers purchased more than one in five homes sold in California, and that more than two-thirds of U.S.-born Latinos in the state are homeowners, compared with the less than one-third of Latinos born outside the U.S. who own their own homes, according to Pepperdine University.

Most of California's Latino homeowners are recent owners, with 44 percent having owned their homes for less than five years, and more than 70 percent of current residences representing a first-time home purchase, according to the report, "Rewarding Ambition: Latinos, Housing and the Future of California."

The report also found that more than 65 percent of potential home buyers prefer to conduct the home-buying process in Spanish; 78 percent of buyers prefer to work with a Latino real estate agent and 63 percent prefer to deal with a Latino lender representative.

The report will be presented by the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, the La Jolla Institute and Cultural Access Group.

Copyright: Inman News Service


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