Gary Acosta Stresses Urgency in Addressing Homeownership Barriers

Gary Acosta, Co-Founder and CEO of NAHREP emphasizes the importance of homeownership at the NAR Policy Forum in Washington, D.C., providing insights drawing attention to the impact on families and communities

By National Association of Realtors®

February 14, 2024

WASHINGTON (February 14, 2024) – The National Association of Realtors® hosted a policy forum Thursday at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. entitled American Dream Deferred: How Can We Keep Homeownership Within Reach? The discussions brought together housing and economic experts, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to address the challenges hindering homeownership.

The event featured keynote speaker Gary Acosta, co-founder and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). Acosta outlined the optimism and challenges in today’s housing industry. He spoke about his firsthand experience seeing homeownership’s impact on families and communities. “We knew that children of homeowners do a little bit better in school and have fewer behavioral issues,” Acosta said. But more importantly, he emphasized, “We knew that homeownership was the gateway to the middle class here in America.”

Acosta outlined an NAHREP-produced report on Hispanic homeownership in the U.S. “Our report has shown that the Hispanic homeownership rate has increased for nine years. It’s the only ethnic demographic in the country with nine consecutive years of homeownership gains. The Urban Institute reported that 70% of net new homeowners in the country over the next 20 years will be Hispanic,” Acosta said.

He explained that 70% is not guaranteed due to economic headwinds. “The lack of inventory in the marketplace has driven prices up and made affordability more difficult than it’s probably ever been in the history of this country,” he said.

Acosta concluded his speech by addressing the challenges the real estate industry and NAR are facing. His closing statement highlighted the hardships all first-time home buyers face and the negative repercussions that inaction on these issues will ultimately have on our economy.