Immigrants Head Home to Buy Property

U.S. immigrants are taking their hard-earned money and spending it on homes in their native countries, thanks to private lenders and other financing that makes the real estate purchases possible. Particularly popular are developments with American-style amenities.

(Realtor) -- "It's something that's growing," says Romi Bhatia, vice president of international operations for the Microfinance International Corp., which makes financial services available to poor people in developing countries. "There's a huge untapped market," he says. The trend is particularly prevalent among Latin American immigrants. The Dominican Republic's government is allowing immigrants to apply for up to $10,000 in aid for down payments. In Mexico, mortgage lender Su Casita had loaned about $66 million in mortgages to 1,420 Mexican immigrants in the United States as of early last year. El Salvador's government started coordinating housing fairs in the United States two years ago.