Industry focuses on the Latino market

Builders fear low homeownership rate
By Lori Weisberg
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

The lagging homeownership rate among the Latino population bodes ill for the future, when Hispanics will become the dominant ethnic group in California, warn California home builders.

A survey conducted for the California Building Industry Association highlights the importance of homeownership among Hispanics but also acknowledges the cost barriers they face in trying to own a home.

Within the next 30 years, state demographers project that Latinos will account for 80 percent of California's total population growth.

[b]“We know that Latinos are underserved and we feel that will be a problem in the future,â€