STUDY: L.A. LATINOS ON OUTSIDE IN HOME-OWNING OPPORTUNITIES.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

Skyrocketing home prices and a meager rise in wages bar most Latino families from owning homes in Los Angeles County, according to a study released Thursday.

While population growth outpaces home construction, the household income of most Latinos lags behind home prices that leap more than 10 percent each year - leaving the average family little hope in achieving the American dream, researchers said.

``At the current time, the typical Latino family has little choice but to live in expensive and inadequate rental units,'' said study co-author Mara Marks, associate director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

``If the American dream is to remain viable for this region's largest demographic group ... you need more houses and you need better-quality loans.''

The study, part of ``Latino Scorecard 2003, Grading the American Dream,'' granted affordable housing for Los Angeles County Latinos a barely passing grade: D.

The scorecard report, authored by five universities and sponsored by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, assessed the quality of health (C), education (D), economic development (C), housing (D) and public safety (D) in relation to the region's largest ethnic group.

``What impacts Latinos impacts all Angelenos,'' said Marks. ``This isn't Latinos against everyone else; by improving the conditions for Latinos, what we're really doing is improving issues for everybody.''

The LMU study graded four aspects of housing for Latinos: - accessibility (C), availability (D), affordability (F) and quality (C).

The study concluded:

--The largest ethnic group in Los Angeles with 45 percent of the population, Latinos received 17 percent of the home loans in 2000 at generally subpar interest rates.

--Latino homeownership stands at 38 percent, compared with 58 percent among non-Latino whites.

--While home prices grew 12 percent for Latinos in 2001, incomes for Latinos rose by 3 percent. The average Latino family spends half its income on housing.

Most Latino families live in smaller homes, in poorer condition, with more people per room, than non-Latinos.

What hampers homeownership for Latinos is a lack of affordable housing and access to money, the report concluded.

``It's not good news,'' said Martin Saiz, director of the Center for Southern California Studies at California State University, Northridge, and author of the public safety component of the scorecard.

``No one wants a grade of D. ... The price of housing is too high and isn't going to come down.''

What's needed, researchers said, is that more homes and condominiums must be built - with less red tape for developers; more affordable home components must be attached to new housing projects; and access to high- quality loans increased for residents.

The study's conclusion that Latinos are among the hardest hit by high home prices mirrored another study by Pepperdine University last year.

``It's dismal, but you don't have to be Latino for it to be dismal,'' said Pepperdine study author Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow of the Davenport Institute for Public Policy.

``It's very hard, particularly for new immigrants, to buy homes, particularly in Los Angeles and in the (San Fernando) Valley, which is getting expensive.''

Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, chairman of a city committee on housing and economic development, said the city is building a $100 million affordable housing trust fund and has acquired another $25 million in state Proposition 46 housing funds.

As a result, permits for affordable housing have jumped from 900 units in 2001 to 3,000 this year, with an additional 8,000 permits for affordable housing pending for downtown alone, he said. The city needs to issue 5,000 permits a year to keep up with demand.

``I hope this is a wake-up call, or kick in the pants,'' said Garcetti, concerning the city's barely passing grade on housing for Latinos. ``We have to improve these grades.''

The LMU study contrasted a report released Tuesday by the Fannie Mae Foundation that said the rate of homeownership increased at a faster pace among Latinos than among whites nationwide.

Among young Latino adults between 25 and 34, homeownership increased by 4 percentage points, substantially more than the 1.9 percentage point gain by non-Latino whites throughout the 1990s.

Homeownership rates for Latinos between 35 and 44 also grew considerably faster than for their white counterparts. Despite these gains, homeownership for Latinos lagged 20 percent behind the rate for whites.

Kotkin said that in order for many Latinos to buy homes, family members must pool their resources to share one home.

Javier Flores, president of the San Fernando Valley Mexican-American Political Association, said it's extremely difficult for many Latino families, who are being pushed out by gentrification in the city of San Fernando and elsewhere.

``There's a lot of houses with people living in garages,'' he said. ``Look at how the city of San Fernando is dealing with it - they're throwing people out in the streets. They're not looking at affordable housing.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

REPORT CARD

(1) L.A. FLUNKS HOUSING MARKET FOR LATINOS

SOURCE: The Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University

(2) HOUSING EXPENSES

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