Gone

More than a century and a half after Mexico lost Texas to the United States, Virgilio Garza wants a piece of it back.

A “Texas for Sale” sign and cowgirls in boots and white hats greeted Mr. Garza at the Convex Center in Monterrey, Mexico, earlier this month. A Monterrey developer and investor, Mr. Garza was in search of foreclosed U.S. property to buy.

“Texas is like our home,” said Mr. Garza, 45, who joined hundreds of Mexicans poring over lists of Texas properties at the four-day event. Mr. Garza, who owns manufacturing sites and other land in Mexico, said he and five partners may invest as much as $8 million in Texas. “We believe there can be some opportunities.”

A rising peso and an economy growing faster than the U.S. one have given some Mexicans the buying power to take advantage of the housing slump in Texas, which became part of the U.S. under an 1848 treaty that ended a three-year war between the two countries.

The peso has gained 4.9 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the year. The economy, which rose 2.6 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, according to a central bank survey of 31 economists in May. The U.S. economy is forecast to grow 1.4 percent in 2008, according to a Bloomberg survey of 57 economists.

Marco Ramirez of McAllen, Texas, is among those trying to sell foreclosed Texas homes to Mexicans. Mr. Ramirez’s company, called Now! Co., has bought 32 Texas properties and has options on 88 more. His best prospects are Mexican buyers, especially in Monterrey, 150 miles from the Texas border, he said.

“Many of these people have children who are studying in the U.S.,” Mr. Ramirez said. “They’ve been renting or leasing and now it’s a great time to buy.”

Mexico is better known for providing the U.S. with cheap labor than investment. The U.S. is home to an estimated 12 million Mexican-born residents, about half of them living in the country illegally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

While Texas hasn’t been hit as hard as California and Florida, existing home sales in Texas fell 12 percent from a year ago in the first quarter.

Foreclosures in Texas rose 29 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, with one of every 274 households in the foreclosure process, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of default data based in Irvine, Calif. The Texas foreclosure rate ranked 17th in the nation, according to RealtyTrac.

Mr. Garza and other Mexicans with money to invest believe the time is right to buy, Mr. Ramirez said. “These are very sophisticated businessmen,” he said. “They realize what’s going on in our country. Everybody needs cash right now and Monterrey has lots and lots of cash.”

Victor Gonzalez, 48, who owns a Monterrey print shop that employs 40 people, wants to use his savings to buy a $250,000 house in a gated community in the South Texas community of Mission.