According to a real estate survey that analyzed prices in seven Latin American cities.
So far in 2024, Montevideo has ranked first as the city in Latin America with the most expensive square meter (m2) in the region for the purchase and sale of real estate.
This was confirmed by the specialist consultancy AIC Economía y Finanzas, through a real estate survey in which it analysed prices in seven Latin American cities.
In the case of the Uruguayan capital, the value per m2 was US$ 3,289, which placed it in first place in the ranking. It was followed by Mexico City with a value per m2 of US$ 2,981, Santiago de Chile (US$ 2,707 per m2), Buenos Aires (US$ 2,427), Sao Paulo (US$ 2,411), Lima (US$ 2,106) and Bogotá (US$ 1,295).
To compile the regional ranking, the consultancy firm collected the sales and purchase announcements for one- and two-bedroom properties, with a surface area of less than 200 m2 and with values between US$ 10,000 and US$ 300,000. The advertisements collected were those requested by the seller and did not correspond to transaction prices; the median was calculated for these advertisements.
AVERAGE MONTHLY RENTAL PRICES
In the case of rentals, the Uruguayan capital was displaced by Mexico City, which so far this year had the highest average monthly rental price in the region at US$1,295 per m2.
In second place was Montevideo with an average rental price of US$ 779, followed by Santiago de Chile (US$ 704), Lima (US$ 660), Sao Paulo (US$ 653), Buenos Aires (US$ 525) and Bogotá (US$ 510).
"The average for the countries analyzed reached US$ 732, with Mexico City and Montevideo above this value," the consultancy firm's report said.
In the case of rentals, AIC considered two- and three-bedroom homes in neighborhoods where people with the average income representative of that country are considered to reside.
HOW DID CONSTRUCTION COST AND INFLATION EVOLVED IN EACH COUNTRY?
The consultancy also investigated the relationship between the cost of construction in each of the countries analysed and the evolution of price increases.
In this regard, it was noted that the construction cost index (ICC) in Uruguay increased by 7.7% (in the year-on-year comparison to June 2024), while the increase in inflation was 5%, with which construction costs grew above inflation.
“Colombia and Peru stand out because the CCI decreased while inflation was positive, especially for Colombia, which had the highest year-on-year inflation of the countries analyzed,” the report said.
Specifically, while in Colombia the general inflation was 7.2%, the CCI decreased by 1.5%. In the case of Peru, inflation was 2.3% and the CCI was negative by 1%.
These were the only two cases, out of the seven countries surveyed, in which construction costs fell while inflation was positive.
On the contrary, the only two countries in which the evolution of construction costs was greater than that of inflation were Uruguay and Chile with CCI of 7.7% and 6%, respectively, and inflation levels of 5% and 4.2%.
