Foundation for the Future: Ahualulco de Mercado Celebrates Historic Land Titles

On March 28, 2025, the community of Viviendas El Porvenir, which loosely translates to “the things to come," celebrated a transformative milestone: becoming landowners. In a partnership between New Story, UR+PA, and the Municipality of Ahualulco de Mercado, 340 families are in the process of receiving their land titles. For most, this is the first property they've ever owned.

In Ahualulco de Mercado, a town of 23,000 people, only 39 affordable homes were sold in the past five years. The state of Jalisco, where Ahualulco de Mercado resides, has a 41% poverty rate. New Story is addressing a critical housing shortage and creating a tenfold impact through our land program. 

One of the landowners is Amalia, a 65-year-old homemaker and mother of six.

As a lifelong resident of Ahualulco de Mercardo, she has been a pillar of the community. Locked out of traditional finance options, Amalia and her husband were unable to buy property and were left with the only option of renting a small house. However, joining New Story’s land program made owning land obtainable with affordable monthly payments. 

They’re excited about the opportunity to own something of their own. They dream of owning a home with a garden and a place to have a barbecue. 

“A home means everything to me,” shared Amalia. “Because home is where love is given, where warmth is shared. It’s where we provide everything we want for our family. And this fills me with happiness to keep moving forward.”

Creating gender equality and generational change

Even more remarkable, 66.5% of the landowners in Viviendas El Porvenir are women. This is more than double Mexico's national average (30%), creating a foundation for lasting community stability.

When women become landowners, they gain autonomy over their lives and futures, elevating their status and reducing vulnerability for themselves and their children. This directly contributes to women's economic empowerment, enhancing their agency within households and communities.

New Story aims for more than 60% of our land program participants to be women or co-own land with a partner. By securing land rights for women, the program addresses historical gender discrimination in property ownership. This approach ensures that traditionally marginalized populations have equal access to the economic benefits of land ownership.

From landowners to homeowners

Putting families central to their housing journey, they have access to affordable housing solutions offered by New Story focused on financial development, housing solutions, and community engagement. Here’s what the full housing journey looks like for the families:

1. Buy land

In partnership with the local municipality and developers, New Story sells developed, full-service land lots including electricity, water, sanitation, and roads. New Story offers information sessions to share more details about the land program. Qualified and approved participants make a down payment towards their land with the remaining paid over 12-24 months. Once paid, they receive their land titles. 

2. Access home financing

As participants make payments toward their land, they also have access to financial support. This includes financial literacy workshops, regular payment tracking, and introductions to financial institution partners. Once they receive their land titles, participants can use their titles as collateral for home financing. 

3. Home construction

To understand the families’ diverse needs, affordable housing prototypes and construction assistance are provided. This allows families the choice to build with a contractor or self-build. 

Additionally, families come together to design their community — deciding what makes them feel safe and the amenities they want for themselves and their children.

For the families of Viviendas El Porvenir, the land title celebration represented not an endpoint but a beginning. They have created the foundation in which they can move forward in their housing journeys to become homeowners and build a thriving community.