Mortgages rise out of reach for many Latinos

The 2008 financial crisis is long over, but its damaging effect on Hispanic families lingers in a pair of grim statistics: More Latinos are choosing to rent than to buy a home, and Hispanic homeownership rates are still in decline even nine years later. Homeownership, an important measure of wealth and middle-class status, has decreased 5 percent among Hispanics since its peak in 2007, according to a recent Pew Research study. In 2007, 49.7 percent of Latino households owned their homes, compared with 47 percent today.