New York Latino Research and Resources Network

NYLARNET-Sponsored Project

The State of Housing for Hispanics in the United States

Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Ph.D.

Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños

Hunter College, CUNY

SUMMARY

This project offers information on housing conditions for Latinos relative to the overall population of the United States, based on survey data collected in the American Housing Survey for the years 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003 (the last year for which data are available). Major findings are as follows:

· The majority of Latinos in the United States (54%) were renters in 2003, compared to 32% of the population as a whole. The homeownership among Latinos was correspondingly lower (46%). This lower homeownership rate was 32% lower than for the population as whole. The data for 2003 represent a reversal in the trend observed in the late 1990s whereas a growing number of Latinos were purchasing homes. After six years of steady growth in homeownership among Latinos, the rate reverted to levels observed between four and six years ago.

· Latinos had to use a greater proportion of resources for their housing expenses than the overall population. Latinos have to do more with fewer resources. They paid 4% more in monthly housing costs than the population as a whole in 2003, with a median household income that was 20% lower than for the overall population. These 2003 data also reflected a reversal in the trend observed in the late 1990s, which saw the relative difference in housing costs for Latinos decrease, and return to levels last seen eight years ago. Latinos also received fewer subsidies (69% less) to cover their rental expenses than the population as a whole.

· Living conditions for Latinos tend to be worse than for the population as a whole. Their homes tended to be overcrowded at rates that were five or six times greater than for the population as a whole. Moreover, Latinos tended to live in homes that were physically smaller (by 17%) than for the population as a whole. The combination of more people living in smaller spaces mean that Latinos have more than a third less living space than the overall population.

· Latino homes also tend to be older than those in which the overall population lives. These homes also tended to exhibit similar physical conditions, such as lacking adequate plumbing, a water source that was unsafe to drink, or structurally deteriorated facilities that result in worse living conditions than the homes of the population as a whole.

In order to reverse these conditions, we recommend the following:

· At the Federal level: An increase in the stock of housing, particularly for people in the middle and lower income levels by maintaining and expanding income tax credits, enforcement of Community Reinvestment Act regulations, and expansion of the Section 8 program and public housing.

· At the State and local levels: greater vigilance of quality of the existing housing stock and increase assistance to anti-abandonment efforts.

· At a more general governmental level: an increase in the minimum wage rate to a “living wage” rate; the elimination of predatory lending practices to reduce insurance and mortgage costs for homeowners; the redistribution of funding sources for education from the local level to the State and Federal levels to lessen over-reliance on local property taxes.

· Greater reliance on limited-equity and limited-profit housing to reduce up-front cost for prospective homebuyers.