U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro defended current housing safeguards, but recognized the several difficulties in the housing market.

Speaking at The Atlantic Summit on the Economy on Thursday morning, Castro identified that homeownership has been the cornerstone of achieving the "American Dream" but there is a stigma on promoting homeownership. Coming out of the housing crisis, Castro acknowledged and defended the safety regulations implemented to prevent another collapse.

"We need to preserve current safeguards," said Castro, adding homeownership has been a wealth creator for people in the U.S. At the same time, households have spent a sizeable portion of their income on housing. According to Castro, 50 percent of households have spent 30 percent of their income on rent.

The HUD secretary noted the average American's credit score is 750, yet there are still difficulties for people to receive a home loan. Castro said HUD has made a "tremendous impact" with local governments to create or invest in projects. While he acknowledged HUD has a strong relationship with state governments, Castro noted the "strongest relationship" is with the local housing authority, which serves millions of Americans.

"We see thousands of people waiting for public housing or vouchers," said Castro.

Castro commented on the housing situation in New York City, specifically 1 Riverside Park -- an affordable housing complex that received 88,200 applications for its 55 rental units.

"What we ought to take away (in response to the 1 Riverside Park situation) is the amount of need for more affordable housing ... that fact is the federal government cannot address all of that and its going to take stronger leveraging of current (HUD) resources and more active local government involvement," said Castro.

The HUD secretary commended New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's effort on producing more affordable housing. As the New York Times reported, de Blasio has pledged 80,000 new affordable housing units during the next 10 years. Castro says there has not been a New York City mayor like deBlasio that has been working on affordable housing.

While HUD has made progressions when it comes to racial profiling in the housing market, Castro said "HUD still has work to do" as studies revealed that minority populations, specifically the Latino and African American population, were less likely to be shown houses during the renting process. Castro believes a "more active local government" will help create equality in the housing market.

As HUD secretary, Castro oversees 8,000 employees with a budget of $46 billion. He was previously mayor of San Antonio and served as a member of its city council.

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