Monterrey, Mexico, ranks first in terms of cost per square meter. Córdoba has the lowest price.
Taken from Clarín
With an average value of US$2413 per square meter and still with a downward trend, Buenos Aires (CABA) is the second most expensive city in Latin America to buy a property, compared to other locations in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Panama.
Currently, Monterrey, Mexico, is the city that occupies first place in this ranking of prices in the region, with a cost per square meter of US$ 2,422,
City , meanwhile, ranks third in sales, with $2,062 per square meter. It is followed by Mexico City ($1,922) and Guadalajara ($1,897), according to a regional study by the real estate portal Zonaprop.
In the middle of the pack are: São Paulo (US$ 1,789), Rio de Janeiro (US$ 1,652), Rosario (US$ 1,620), Lima (US$ 1,609), Curitiba (US$ 1,372), and Quito (US$ 1,284). Meanwhile, the most affordable cities to buy property are Belo Horizonte (US$ 1,016) and Córdoba (US$ 1,204).
During the pandemic, property prices in the region reacted differently, according to this analysis of the variation in the original currency of real estate listings. Curitiba stands out as the city that registered the largest increase in value (+16%) between December 2019 and July 2021.
Lima (15%), Guadalajara (13%), and Monterrey (10%) followed. Meanwhile, São Paulo (6%), Belo Horizonte (2%), and Rio de Janeiro (2%) in Brazil also showed increases.
In Argentina, the city of Córdoba experienced the largest price drop in Latin America (-18%) since the start of the pandemic. Buenos Aires and Rosario saw declines of 12% and 9%, respectively. Panama City (-5%), Quito (-4%), and Mexico City (-3%) followed in this trend.
An important fact highlighted by the study is that, with the exception of the Mexican capital, all the markets that denote the values of their properties in local currency (Brazil, Peru and Mexico) registered a nominal price increase during this period.
Regarding why Monterrey is presented as the most expensive city in the region when it comes to buying property, the platform explained that "it is a modern city with a great infrastructure and an important technological-industrial hub, perhaps the most developed in Mexico."
In turn, it boasts prominent universities, such as the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), and a notable influence from North American cities on its development. “Furthermore, its population has a high per capita income, a large middle class, and many are looking for condominiums, which creates a favorable environment for the development of its real estate market,” ZonaProp analysts noted.
How have sales prices in dollars evolved in Latin America? By measuring the dollar values of units for sale, according to the exchange rates corresponding to each country, the Zonaprop report indicates that the Mexican cities of Guadalajara (+23%), Monterrey (+20%), and Mexico City (+6%) have registered the greatest increase in the last 19 months. Furthermore, these are the only locations that currently reflect dollar prices above pre-pandemic levels.
However, the rest of the cities in Latin America show a decrease in their costs in dollars. In this regard, Rio de Janeiro is the capital with the largest drop in value (-21%), followed by Belo Horizonte (-20%), Córdoba (-18%), São Paulo (-17%), Buenos Aires (-12%), Rosario (-9%), and Curitiba (-9%). Lima (-6%), Panama City (-5%), and Quito (-4%) fall in the middle of this ranking.
Another recent survey by the University of San Andrés, using data from Mercado Libre real estate listings, showed that the price decline continued in September. In the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), this decrease was 1.3% for houses and 0.8% for apartments, compared to August 2021. And so far this year, the average sale price per square meter for houses has fallen by 4.4%, and by 7.3% for apartments.
Distinguishing between the different zones, drops in houses of 4.7% were observed in CABA, 7.2% in GBA North, 4.5% in GBA South, and an increase of 3.1% in GBA West (because they had previously fallen 15.2% between May 2019 and the same month of 2020).
In contrast, the price drops for apartment sales, compared to September 2020, in CABA and GBA North, South and West were 8%, 6%, 7.6% and 5.7%, respectively.
