Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, the state’s largest residential real estate brokerage company, announced the launch of its CASA Coldwell Banker initiative in Spanish. CASA Coldwell Banker is designed to offer home buying and selling resources in Spanish to the growing Hispanic community and provides Coldwell Banker sales associates with new ways to market to Hispanic consumers through specialized marketing materials.

Hispanics are Florida’s largest minority group. Between 1990 and 2000, Florida’s Hispanic population increased by 70.4 percent from 1.6 million to 2.7 million. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population for 47 of Florida’s 67 counties doubled in the same period of time. Over the next 20 years, the Hispanic population is expected to make up 40 percent of first-time homebuyers. The Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia reports that Hispanic buying power has jumped 357 percent from 1990 to 2008.

With more than 650 Spanish-speaking sales associates in Florida, Clark Toole III, president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, says that CASA Coldwell Banker is committed to meeting the real estate needs of the growing Hispanic community. The launch of the CASA initiative comes at the heels of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which recognizes the culture and traditions of Spanish-speaking residents living in the United States.