Mexico will have to move quickly in developing a strong housing finance system if it is to meet President Vicente Fox's goal of doubling the country's housing production by 2006, according to a report by University of Southern California business professor David Dale-Johnson and Universidad del Valle de México real estate professor Gene Towle.
"Mexico is making progress in creating the infrastructure to make affordable mortgage credit available to its growing middle class," Dale-Johnson said. "But if it does not continue to move forward quickly, it will not achieve President Fox's goal of increasing production over the next three years to 750,000 new homes annually."
Mexico has established a federal development bank, known as Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, which facilitates mortgage financing for low- to moderate-income buyers much like Fannie Mae in the United States.
Furthermore, "there needs to be a cooperative effort between local governments and the development community to facilitate competitive land development," Dale-Johnson said. "Without entitled land and infrastructure, no houses will be built."