Study: San Diego Trails National Par For Latino Home Ownership

By California Capitol Network, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 9, 2007 at 2:13 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Fewer California Latinos own homes than Latinos living in other parts of the country. That's according to a study sponsored by the California Building Industry Association. It finds that nationwide 48

Fewer California Latinos own homes than Latinos living in other parts of the country. That's according to a study sponsored by the California Building Industry Association. It finds that nationwide 48 percent of Latinos own homes, while that figure is 44 percent in the golden state.

Former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros says as the state's population grows, many of those will be Latinos. He calls this a wake-up call.

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Cisneros : As California seeks to sustain its economy in the long run and we recognize the dependence of California's strength in part on the real estate sector. What this tells us is that the Latino community will have a role -- in fact a leadership role in forging a new California strength.

The Building Industry Association also sponsored a poll about housing issues. Roughly 1,000 Latinos statewide were asked the biggest obstacle to owning a home.

The unsurprising answer? High housing costs in the state.