La Raza: Hispanics fare badly in housing

Hispanics struggle more than other Americans to find affordable homes and are more likely to live in overcrowded homes in poor conditions, a Hispanic civil-rights organization says. Though home ownership among Latinos increased during the 1990s,  affordability continues to be a problem nationwide as housing costs rise faster than income, according to a statistical brief from the National Council of La Raza. In Arizona,  the homeownership rate for Hispanics is 16.3  percentage points less than among Anglos, the study says. "It's better than the national average (a gap of 28  percentage points), but still not very good," said Janis Bowdler,  a policy analyst  at La Raza. "Rising levels of discrimination" and lack of relationships with financial institutions are among the obstacles Latinos face when shopping for homes, the La Raza brief said. [more ]