Expanding Homeownership opportunities for Latinos in Riverside County By Ruby Frazier California is well known for its ridiculously high housing prices. The affordability crisis is well documented and known to be a major problem affecting millions of the state’s residents. Additionally, it’s known that the affordability crisis stems from the state’s inability to produce more homes for more than a decade with many experts arguing that to bring the housing crisis and affordability issue to manageable levels, the state needs at least 3.5 million homes by 2025.
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bviously, the insufficient housing supply affects everyone. But studies prove that the more disadvantaged people are the minorities and marginalized communities and Hispanics and Asian Pacific Americans buys are largely affected by this. Also, a known fact is that the Latino community in California is growing both economically and socially but even so, they are far less likely to become homeowners and a larger percentage spend a greater portion of their incomes on housing than all other residents of the state. The Latino community in California represents one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups and homeownership is the cornerstone for their survival. But many barriers have blocked housing development, especially in the areas where there are large percentages of Latinos who are squandering their ability to afford housing. In fact, only 29% of the Latino Households can afford a median-priced house in California two decades ago (1999) which was 8% lower than the state’s average. Fast forward to 2021, nationally, Latinos lag behind the non-Hispanic whites with a 26% gap. Statewide, only 44% of the Latinos
are homeowners compared to 65% of the nonHispanic Whites. Other research suggests that Latinos are more likely to spend more than 50% of their incomes on housing costs than all other races combined. EXPANDING HOMEOWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LATINOS If we are to help Latinos in California, and more so in Riverside enjoy the full benefits of homeownership, then we need to first understand the genesis of this chronic problem. There exists a chronic imbalance in the supply and demand, especially in the areas where Latinos are found large populations-primarily the Greater Los Angeles area where at least 40% of all residents are Latinos. In such an area you will find that increases in the prices of homes exceed the increases in incomes by a large margin, particularly for the Latinos. Additionally, the lack of housing is shutting the opportunities for the first-time Latino buyers which means, many would-be buyers are stuck MAY 2022 | 47
