Mexico Follows U.S. in Foreclosures Crushing Builders

Bloomberg, 4/2/2013

Just as the U.S. emerges from the worst of its foreclosure crisis, Mexico’s is getting worse. Home repossessions more than doubled last year to a record 43,853 from 2011, according to Infonavit, the state-backed lender responsible for about 70 percent of home loans in Mexico, as the past decade’s expansion in government-subsidized housing backfires and adds to a glut of empty homes weighing on the nation’s beleaguered builders.

Efforts to build thousands of properties on low-cost land beyond city limits has led to unpaid mortgages as workers shun commuting costs and return to urban living, according to the government. With abandoned homes mounting, Infonavit has ramped up home seizures by acting on unpaid taxes instead of delinquent loans, reducing its transaction time to about four months from more than two years, the lender said.

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The Mirage Of Hispanic Job Growth

Poder, 3/11/2009

The recession of 2008 reveals the financial vulnerabilities Hispanic families face. Loan defaults, home foreclosures, and personal bankruptcies are rising for everyone, but are likely to be much higher for Hispanics than others. The reason: Economic distress is quickly materializing for many Hispanics due to sharply higher unemployment rates. By the end of 2008, one year after the recession began, the unemployment rate for Hispanics hit 9.2 percent, compared to 6.6 percent for whites.

But what about the gains Hispanics made before the recession?

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