No place like home

In most of the world nowadays, anything related to mortgage is synonymous with high risk. Mortgages in Mexico are an opportunity for economic growth and social development. And I think that if anything, Mexico is not only prepared to confront the current crisis but also jumpstart the economy in harsh times.

Mexico’s mortgage solution, “The World”  (Public Radio International, BBC, WGBH), via Mexico Today .  It surprises people that Mexicans aren’t faced with a homeowner’s crisis… but then, in Mexico, a home is NOT an investment, but a place to live in.  It is a basic human right.

Article 123 (Section A, paragraph  XXX) of the Mexican Constitution mandates  “cooperative societies established for the construction of low-cost and hygienic houses to be purchased on installments by workers, shall be considered of social utility.”  Other articles require local governments to define what constitutes a dignified and hygenic home, and protect the homeowner from losing their property.

Does everyone in Mexico live in dignified and hygenic surroundings? Of course not, but the State is obliged to do its damndest to get everyone a livable place.  This is the real reason the idea of a “mortgage crisis” doesn’t make any sense.  In the United States, people think a house is an investment, and are shocked when their investment loses money… in Mexico, a house … hopefully one that is dignified and hygenic… is where you live.