From my hometown’s Baltimore Sun:

The Hispanic market alone in the United States will see its annual buying power grow from about $686 million currently to more than $1 trillion by 2009, said Jeffrey M. Humphreys, an economic forecaster at the University of Georgia.

“By 2009, the buying power of Hispanics in this country will exceed the economy of Canada,” he said. “It’s going to represent an increasing portion of your new customers. And since Hispanic, black and Asian households in the United States significantly lag behind whites in homeownership, the potential is even greater.”

Surette predicts Hispanic homeownership rates will quickly top the 50 percent mark from about 47 percent currently.

“Nearly a third of all the growth between now and 2010 is going to come from Latino-headed households,” he said. “Almost 90 percent [of Hispanics surveyed] want to become homeowners.”

Read more