ABSTRACT
The Mexican housing system was transformed after 1940 as a predominantly rural country became a nation of city dwellers and a major shift occurred in the pattern of urban residential tenure. A situation where the urban population was housed as tenants changed to one where there is a predominance of owners. In 1950, only three Mexican cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (Culiacán, Matamoros and Mérida) had a majority of owner-occupied homes. By 1980 the transformation was almost complete. Table 3.1 shows that practically every large Mexican city had a predominance of owners, many cities with two-thirds of their households in that category.
