Ferman Gonzales grew up on San Antonio's south side, part of a large Hispanic community where developers used to be reluctant to invest. Not so anymore.

Five years ago Gonzales, 34, and his wife bought a 2,429-square-foot, three-bedroom home there in a neighborhood called Lago Vista. The couple fell in love with their home for its open floor plan and large front porch -- design features developers put in place with the goal of attracting Hispanic Americans.

Hispanics like Gonzales are helping to transform the U.S. housing market. Their surging numbers and high regard for homeownership are nudging builders and lenders to appeal directly to them with new designs, marketing and financing options.

By 2010 the country's total of Hispanic households is projected to grow from today's 10 million to 13.5 million. The overall rate of homeownership climbed in the 1990s to its highest ever at 68 percent, and Latino homeownership during that time rose faster than that of any other group, by 6 percent to 48 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Immigration is not driving the growth, said Henry G. Cisneros, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration, and now founder and chairman of CityView, a real-estate development company in San Antonio.

Hispanic-American families tend to be younger and larger, Cisneros said, and their numbers are growing not only in states such as Florida, Texas and California but across the Midwest and elsewhere. They include the first generation of middle-class Hispanics to enter the U.S. housing market on a widespread scale, he said.

"It is no longer an adjunct to the housing market. It is core business strategy for almost anyone in the home-building business," said Cisneros, editor of the book, "Casa Y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design." "In some markets they're going to sustain (the) momentum of the markets. They're going to be the principle reason for growth."

Builders are responding with designs they believe will appeal to this new diversity in buyers, Cisneros said. There are, for example, designs meant for multigenerational families who want more bedrooms, with bathrooms in hallways that everyone can share.

Some homes may include finished garages that can be converted into bedrooms in future years. Others may include bedrooms both upstairs and downstairs, for elderly grandparents.

These homes may place kitchens at the center of the social space and include gas stoves suitable for open-flame cooking of traditional recipes. Home plans emphasize gathering spaces in front of the homes, allowing neighbors to socialize more easily, said Fernando Pages Ruiz, a builder specializing in affordable housing for minorities in Lincoln, Neb.

He is the author of the book "Building an Affordable House: Trade Secrets for High-Value, Low-Cost Construction." Some builders are constructing entire developments targeting Hispanics with common courtyards, he said.

"It's a different mentality," he said. "This is not one of seeking privacy in the outdoors. It's seeking companionship."

Builders are hiring bilingual staffers and distributing marketing materials in English and Spanish. Pages Ruiz said Hispanic buyers are attractive to builders partly because they often have close family ties, making it less likely they will default on loans.

"Hispanics have a homeownership culture. Home is important. So painting a home, owning a home, being able to be free within it, in other words, to invite your mother and cousins and have family experiences in the house without worrying about the landlord, is very important," he said.

"If you're going to default within the context of a Hispanic society, your family and friends are going to help you."

Many Hispanics tend to avoid debt and deal in cash, and so some may have little or no credit history, said Frances Martinez Myers, chairwoman of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. "We've seen lenders begin to develop and adapt products that appeal or fit the needs more appropriately of the Hispanic market," Martinez Myers said.

Lenders are responding with programs requiring little or no down payment; allowing alternative forms of credit history, or accepting tax identification numbers instead of Social Security numbers on loans.

Pages Ruiz envisions more change. Hispanics are a perfect fit for the new urban model of mixed-use development -- they tend to be entrepreneurial and open businesses in their homes and nearby commercial districts, he said.

"These designs will become more common and for everyone," he said.