National campaign aims to boost faltering Hispanic household wealth

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: BC-CNS-Hispanic Wealth,460
  • Sidebar: Hispanic wealth gap
  • File photo available (thumbnail, caption below)

By COLTON GAVIN
Cronkite News Service

WASHINGTON – A national group that plans to mount a multiyear campaign to improve income and household wealth among Hispanic families pointed to Arizona on Monday as a potential leader in that effort.

“Arizona has a major economic engine at work through its fast-growing Hispanic population,” said former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, who joined the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals to kick off a campaign that aims to triple Hispanic household wealth within the next decade.

“We are expecting a lot of leadership from Arizona, especially in real estate,” Cisneros said. “What better state than Arizona? What better model for economic growth?”

The campaign is likely to include a focus on home ownership, although details will not be finalized for the next several months, while the association commissions a study and report from the University of Chicago on the current situation and best ways to proceed.

“We’re putting together a brain trust made up of both Hispanics and non-Hispanics to reach our goals,” said Gary Acosta, CEO of the association that’s behind the plan.

Cisneros said the need is real, as Hispanic wealth has fallen rapidly in recent years.

“Hispanics earn about 80 percent of the average American income. But what’s worse is that Hispanics only have 10 percent of the average net worth,” Cisneros said.

One problem with family wealth is that many Hispanics are immigrants, he said, but that it takes longer, sometimes a whole generation, to build up wealth.

“America runs on savings, investment, and ownership. If any segment of the population is locked out of that, it denies prosperity,” said Cisneros, who was hopeful that Arizona’s real estate industry and large Hispanic population would make it a leader in the effort.

A spokesman of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce welcomed the effort Monday, but also offered a caution as the campaign moves forward.

“During the housing boom, a lot of predatory loans were offered to Hispanics who couldn’t possibly pay them back,” said James Garcia, the spokesman. “With the housing collapse, a lot of Hispanics were disproportionately targeted.”

Garcia said the plan offers an opportunity for Hispanics to send a message.

“If there is to be a rebound, we need to be careful,” he said. “It is important for Hispanic America to tell corporate America that we’re becoming more and more a part of their customer base, and that we expect to be treated the same as everyone else.”

Acosta expects the plan to be ready by October, at which time the association will seek commitments of support from corporations and financial institutions.

“It is a marathon, not a sprint. This effort is not finite,” Acosta said. “As long as there are Hispanics in America this project with continue.”

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Web Links:

_ National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals: http://nahrep.org/home

_ Pew report on Hispanic wealth: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/07/26/the-toll-of-the-great-recession/

_ Pew on Hispanics in Arizona: http://www.pewhispanic.org/states/state/az/

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SIDEBAR:

Hispanic wealth woes

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals proposed a campaign to triple Hispanic household wealth in the next decade. Recent reports on the situation have outlined the problem:

– A 2011 Pew report said median household wealth among Hispanics fell from $18,359 in 2005 to $6,325 in 2009, a 66 percent drop that was the largest among all racial and ethnic groups.

– The median Hispanic household income was $39,005 in 2012 compared to a national median of $51,017, according to a Census Bureau report on poverty and income in the U.S.

– Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently that the median weekly paycheck for a Hispanic worker was $568 in 2012, compared to a national media of $768 that year.

– In 2011, Pew said median Hispanic net worth was $7,483 (in 2012 dollars). By comparison the median net worth for all households was $71,192.

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While details are still being worked out, the campaign to increase Hispanic household wealth in the U.S. is likely to include a focus on home ownership. (Cronkite News Service photo by Lorri Allen)