Housing rent in Mexico is expensive

MEXICO CITY (El Universal).—The house and apartment rentals They set a new record due to the new strategies of developers, inflation, growing demand, low salaries and the expansion of digital hosting platforms, analysts said.

By monitoring the 55 main cities in the country, the Inegi found that the average rent of homes increased 3.8% in the first half of March and was the largest rent increase in two decades, specifically since the beginning of August 2004, when it also rose 3.8%.

Real estate for sale also became more expensive, rising 3.5% and it was the most pronounced adjustment in 15 years, since the end of January 2009, when they rose 3.6%.

“The higher price of housing gave a new boost to rent, Therefore, developers and real estate trusts are betting on the construction of rental apartments. Now developers build to sell to investors and not to buyers who are interested in living in the properties, and that is why we see new buildings sold but uninhabited,” commented Raúl Fierro, a real estate sector consultant.

From your point of view, prices have become unjustifiably high.

For Marisol Becerra, consulting director at Tinsa México, housing rental is a market that is growing due to the lack of access to credit.

“Let us remember that half of the population lives informally and it is more difficult to access a mortgage loan,” he noted.

Sector that rents the most

The National Housing Survey by Inegi and Infonavit revealed that renting solves the need for housing for one in three Mexicans, with singles and young people being the most likely to rent.

Of the 35.3 million inhabited homes in the country, 31% are rented either formally or lent by a family member.

The survey indicated that Mexico CityJalisco, Colima, Baja California Sur and State of Mexico They are the entities with the highest rate of rental households.

In a report on the real estate situation in Mexico, BBVA analysts pointed out that the income of employees has fallen far behind the price of houses and apartments, that is, even if there is an intention to purchase, their resources are insufficient to buy .

Real Estate specialist, Leonardo González, agreed that houses and apartments have risen faster than salaries, which, combined with high interest rates, makes it more difficult to acquire a home and workers prefer to rent.

More expensive mortgages

Bank of Mexico records indicate that the average Total Annual Cost (CAT) of loans to purchase a house or apartment reached 13.88% in February and was the highest record since December 2022.

In González’s opinion, the high cost of construction materials and the lower placement of popular housing also have to do with the final price of real estate. In addition, he explained, costs had an adjustment following the pandemic due to teleworking and today users value housing more than before the health crisis, which increased demand.

“Prices will show a persistent rise due to the housing deficit, the large housing gap, the incursion of millennials into the market, as well as the greater participation of women in the labor market, since they have more capacity to take out mortgages and that It means additional demand for real estate,” said González.

In the particular case of some areas, such as Mexico City, the expansion of the so-called digital nomads, in particular, American migrants, has generated an increase in income and the displacement of local residents, as well as a new line of real estate development. , he commented.

The 2020 National Housing Survey by Inegi indicated that 51.4% of people who rent do so because they cannot afford to buy or lack resources, while 9.7% said that because the monthly payment is less than that of a mortgage.