Fireside Chat with Ron Terwilliger, Former San Antonio Mayor Cisneros, Self-Dubbed ‘Housers’

Ralph Bivins

AUSTIN—Despite rumblings to the contrary, the American dream of home ownership is not a fading relic from the nation’s Post World War II era. In fact, home ownership remains a key lever to elevate families from generational poverty to the middle class, according to two of the nation’s top leaders in the housing industry.

The benefits of home ownership were discussed at the closing session of the ULI Housing Opportunity Conference in Austin in a fireside chat with Ron Terwilliger, who established the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing, and former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, who served as HUD Secretary in the Clinton Administration. The chat was moderated by Heidi Cisneros, managing partner at local engineering firm, Structures.

The recent rise in mortgage rates, with

the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hitting as high as 7 percent, intimidated buyers. “Right now, people are turned off by mortgage rates, but they should come down a little,” Terwilliger said. “I think homeownership is here to stay and probably two-thirds of Americans will continue to own homes.”

Promoting home ownership through public policy and other means must continue and be amplified as the nation lifts families to long-term opportunities, said Cisneros.

“It seems to me it’s a worthwhile national endeavor. It’s a moral imperative to provide decent housing at prices people can afford, so they can build their lives with housing,” Cisneros said.

Only 42 percent of minority households owned a home in the early 1990s, when former President Bill Clinton was elected and Cisneros was in Clinton’s cabinet as housing secretary, making an aggressive push to increase minority homeownership. By the end of the 1990s, minority home ownership was near 50 percent.

“You’ve heard in recent years attacks on home ownership, that it doesn’t work in the new economy because people have to be mobile to move, that young people don’t want to be homeowners,” Cisneros said. But those sentiments an outdated and not valid in the long run, he added.

“I think it’s very clear that people still want to own a home,” Cisneros said. “It’s much more than just bricks and mortar, and a foundation and a roof. A place to live is a big investment for people and it’s the transition to the middle class.”

Cisneros, elected in 1991 to become the first Hispanic American mayor of a major U.S. city, said home ownership is important to family structure and key to family life. The home provides a venue for celebration of family events, milestones and memories, birthdays, Mother’s Day, and the passing of seniors as well as a steady platform for raising children.

Owning a house is essential to the financial condition of families. “The sum total of the net worth for most Americas is the net worth they have in their home,” Cisneros said.

A lack of housing supply, higher construction costs, and higher mortgage rates present hurdles to home buying. Even though challenges are great, people must be diligent in searching for solution.

“There are people in this room who haven’t given up either.” Cisneros said. “Thank you to those of you who have understood the significance of housing to families, to people, to the American system.”

Cisneros also praised ULI leader Terwilliger, chairman emeritus of Trammell Crow Residential Company. The generosity of Terwilliger, who has developed over 200,000 dwelling units, led to the establishment of the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing. The ULI audience applauded when Cisneros said Terwilliger has given $100 million to the Habitat for Humanity organization.

Terwilliger and Cisneros have worked a great deal on housing advocacy in Washington. “I’m all in. I’m a houser,” Terwilliger said, noting that 2.8 billion people in the world remain underhoused. “I believe housing is a human right.”