A Latino Family and The Possibility of the American Dream Through Homeownership

The American dream is to get an education, get a job, buy a home, and live the good life. When that dream becomes a reality, especially when you own a home, you likely will be able to build a nice nest egg and pass it on to your family.

For Latinos, achieving the American dream is harder. Although Latinos are buying homes at an accelerating rate — according to a 2023 report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, nearly 50% of Latino households have purchased a house — they never really own them. No one, regardless of race or ethnicity, really owns a home while there is a mortgage, and for many Latinos, the mortgage never seems to be paid off.

The Latino Policy Forum in Chicago recently hosted a series of community meetings as part of an ongoing project on Latino homeownership in the city and its suburbs. During one of those interviews, a Latina succinctly summed up the stories we had been hearing: “The American Dream is owning a home, but for us, it is only a dream. We do not take out 30-year mortgages; when money is needed, you refinance and restart........

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