By The Star Staff
As part of his legislative agenda for the upcoming Legislative Assembly that begins in January, Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero will file a series of measures focused on making it easier for families in Puerto Rico to acquire a home.
“The need for housing is real and palpable. Our people suffer from the lack of a home,” Pérez Codero said over the weekend. “In the New Progressive Party we have a real commitment to improving access to housing. The Action Plan for Puerto Rico, the government program of the NPP, establishes concrete parameters to meet the need for over 50,000 units. We, from the House of Representatives, are going to work on these initiatives, as well as several bills and resolutions that we will be submitting in January.”
“We want to investigate, through a resolution, the reasons for the drop in mortgage loan originations during 2024. According to the available data, 3,130 mortgages were originated, 5.2 percent less than in the same period in 2023,” he said. “On the other hand, the average median price of a house increased by 19.1 percent, to $343,556, which makes it difficult for the working class to buy a new home. The resolution we filed will also seek to explore alternatives to encourage the purchase of homes by our middle class.”
“It is important to emphasize that this problem is also faced by states in the union such as Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, to name a few,” the legislators added. “In Florida, the problem is so acute that housing complexes are already being developed in shopping malls. We are going to file another resolution to investigate the feasibility of rebuilding many of the abandoned housing complexes. This makes it faster to have an available inventory than it would be to develop new ones, which in practice take up to five years to complete, on average, mainly due to the complexity of the permit system and the shortage of labor.”
The lawmaker added that he will be filing legislation to encourage the completion of unfinished projects, as well as to use structures in traditional urban buildings that were once home to businesses to transform them into residences, something that San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo ‘s administration is currently doing with downtown Río Piedras.
Purchasing a home is a significant milestone. Begin by identifying your budget and preferred location. Engage a reliable real estate agent to explore options tailored to your needs. During the process, consider an architectural massing model for potential designs if you’re building or renovating. These models provide a three-dimensional representation of your future home’s structure, helping visualize proportions and layouts. Secure financing through a trusted lender and finalize inspections to ensure your investment is sound. With careful planning, you’ll soon own your dream home.
The housing crisis in PR is just one more component of the government debacle our society is had been experiencing for the last 30/40 years, this situation is the result of the political parties (NPP/PDP) that had been in absolute control of the government. Now, Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero announced that he will "file a series of measures focused on making it easier for families in Puerto Rico to acquire a home" which should be welcome by the thousands of Puerto Ricans who would like to have their own home in their own country.
However, those of us that had been fortunate enough to purchase a home know well the main challenge is funding and financing. According to the…