COLUMN: Hispanic housing market fortifies cultural mix

Hispanics have become a large part of the Las Vegas population. Therefore, it figures they have become a large part of the home-buying population.

Gisela Galvan is not only a believer of that premise, she's made a living out of catering to Hispanic home buyers.

The Mexican-born Galvan was raised in the United States. She is a partner in Re-Max Masters with Joan Brooks who is the company broker. The two women started their business less than two years ago and each has her specialty.

"I stick to the selling end of things," Galvan said. "That's where I do best."

Almost 97 percent of Galvan's business is with Hispanic buyers. She took issue with a recent newspaper story that reported Hispanics stick to certain parts of town and aren't interested in buying outside of Hispanic-dominated neighborhoods.

"Five or six years ago that might have been true," she said. "Now, you see them in different areas."

Galvan said she sees more and more Hispanic residents in Summerlin, where she lives. "The Hispanic community is changing and assimilating more in regular society."

She believes immigrants are coming to achieve the American Dream. "A lot of them are coming in with the idea to stay, to make this their home. Before, they were coming in to save money, then go back to their home country."

Galvan said her clients' interests range from entry-level to million-dollar homes. "Right now, we have 30 homes in escrow with a price range from $88,000 to $389,000."

Here are some eye-opening figures: the Geographic Comparison Table from the U.S. Census Bureau breaks the population of Clark County into census tracts showing ethnicity. Out of 1,375,765 souls, the chart shows 302,143 Hispanic residents. Of those, 59,678 lived in Hispanic-dominated neighborhoods. The balance -- 242,465 or four-fifths of residents of Hispanic origin -- live in culturally mixed neighborhoods.

Gary Coles, former head of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, said when he took over as broker/owner of Americor Realty that he realized he would have to take steps to address the needs of potential Hispanic homeowners.

"The first thing we did was hire a receptionist who is from El Salvador," Coles said. "She has been instrumental in our being able to communicate with prospective home buyers."

Of the 30 agents Coles has working at Americor, five are Spanish-speaking and "we have three others coming over."

Carlo Maffatt, publisher of El Tiempo Libre, the Review-Journal's Spanish language newspaper, is well aware of the importance of the Hispanic market to Las Vegas.

"When I first started the newspaper six years ago, there were approximately 120,000 Hispanics in Las Vegas. Nearly 80 percent were newcomers, predominantly from rural communities in Mexico."

Maffatt said that in the past few years, Hispanics have been coming to Las Vegas from all of South America and from bigger Mexican cities. He said these immigrants are college educated and have changed the cultural panorama of the Hispanic population. They find it easier to learn the language and adapt than the earlier influx of "country" Mexicans.

"Five years ago, Eastern and Bonanza was like a small Mexican town. It was a barrio. Now it's not that we have a Hispanic community, we have Hispanics in Las Vegas," Maffatt said.

"I don't think Las Vegas would be where it is now if it hadn't been for Hispanics making it happen. This is a city about service and it is the Hispanics who provide that service."

Carmel Hopkins, real estate product manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@ lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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