{"id":38701,"date":"2022-08-20T10:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/homeownership-we-feel-like-our-dreams-are-slipping-away\/"},"modified":"2022-08-20T16:00:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T16:00:56","slug":"homeownership-we-feel-like-our-dreams-are-slipping-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/homeownership-we-feel-like-our-dreams-are-slipping-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeownership: \u2018We feel like our dreams are slipping away\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Other Side<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roberta Villalobos and her husband, whose real names I\u2019m concealing for questions of privacy, began looking for a house to buy in Durango over two years ago. But so far, they\u2019ve struck out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found homes,\u201d Villalobos explained. \u201cBut we keep getting out bid by out-of-state buyers. And prices have doubled since we started looking. We feel like our dreams are slipping away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last home Villalobos found was a 1,400 square foot townhouse. The unit was in Durango, which would have allowed her children to stay at the same school. According to Zillow, the home sold for $369,000 in 2018, but four years later, it went for $547,500 \u2013 a 48% increase. The Villalobos made a competitive offer, but a second home buyer offered thousands more than the asking price. Losing yet another home, after so many years of sacrifice, was tough to swallow.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the pandemic, my husband kept food stocked on the shelves and contributed to a vital part of our economy,\u201d Villalobos said. \u201cHe\u2019s a hero. But unfortunately, the real estate market doesn\u2019t see it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villalobos and her husband are part of Durango\u2019s quickly diminishing middle class, but their story is reflective of a broader trend. Like them, millions of Americans are watching their dream of joining the middle class slip away as their purchasing power is outstripped by inequality and inflation. According to the Pew Research Center, 61% of U.S. households were in the middle class in 1971. Today, only 50% are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left Mexico to improve our future, to build a family and to be economically stable,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe came to give our children a safe home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Villalobos have worked hard to position themselves for homeownership. When they migrated to the U.S., they moved to a local trailer park, which allowed them to keep costs low, while growing professionally and saving for a home. But now that they finally qualify for a loan, bidding wars have created a new barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made offers that we think are fair,\u201d Villalobos said. \u201cBut sellers go with the largest bid and we simply haven\u2019t been able to compete. It\u2019s disheartening because we want to be part of this community. We live here, we work here, we\u2019re essential workers, but we\u2019re finding it increasingly difficult to stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Latinos, the Villalobos represent the youngest demographic group in the country, which makes up nearly 20% of the nation\u2019s population. In this sense, they represent the future. Still, despite demographic growth, the Latinx population \u2013 like other minority groups \u2013 has struggled to gain wealth. In fact, the median wealth of Latino households in 2019 was just $14,000, which pales in comparison to the $160,200 reported for non-Hispanic White households.<\/p>\n

The gap between Latinx and white households is largely tied to homeownership. Whereas 73% of non-Hispanic whites own their home, just 47% of Latinos own the house they live in. In a country where 66% of the average family\u2019s wealth is tied to the value of their home, Latinos like the Villalobos are poorly positioned to keep pace with the American Dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels unfair,\u201d Villalobos concluded. \u201cIt feels like we will have to leave Durango, the town we love so much because it\u2019s no longer affordable. We just want an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they deserve one. But giving the Villalobos \u2013 and other families like them \u2013 a fair shot at homeownership will require local leaders to expand housing stock, while subsidizing affordable housing units. It will require innovative tax structures that levy second-home buyers and tourists at rates that are capable of offsetting the rapid inflation of local markets. More of the same simply won\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

Ben Waddell is an associate professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College and serves on the board of Compa\u00f1eros, a Durango-based immigration rights nonprofit.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other Sidecca Roberta Villalobos and her husband, whose real names I\u2019m concealing for questions of privacy, began looking for a house to buy in Durango over two years ago. But so far, they\u2019ve struck out. \u201cWe\u2019ve found homes,\u201d Villalobos explained. \u201cBut we keep getting out bid by out-of-state buyers. And prices have doubled since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38701"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}