According to the Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, the price of housing increased 10.9% in Guadalajara, and 9.4% in Monterrey, while in Mexico City it became more expensive 4.8%.
In the surroundings of the Azteca Stadium, which will host the opening match and four more games, prices range between 8,900 and 18,700 pesos for 24 nights, while complete homes have a cost that varies from 21,200 to 43,700 pesos.
Although the municipalities with the most accommodations in the capital are Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo and Benito Juárez, Coyoacán is placed in fourth place with 770 complete homes and 902 private rooms offered to tourists in the application.
In the areas surrounding the stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, a panorama is presented with prices exceeding 15,000 pesos per month in rent and more than 20,000 pesos per square meter in sales.
For example, around the Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, monthly rents range from 22,000 to 45,000 pesos, according to Monopolio data. In neighborhoods such as Granja, San Juan de Ocotán or Rinconada del Bosque, all less than 10 minutes from the premises, the square meter for sale is between 29,000 and 36,000 pesos, according to Clau.com.
The most exclusive areas, such as Los Castaños, concentrate the highest rents, while in Ayamonte the prices are slightly lower, although they are still above the metropolitan average.
(Photo: Eloisa Sánchez/Reuters)
In Monterrey, the surroundings of the BBVA Stadium have more affordable prices. In neighborhoods such as Jardines and Bosques de la Pastora, as well as in Sunset, rents are between 16,000 and 28,000 pesos per month, while sales per square meter range between 19,000 and 23,000 pesos.
In neighboring areas, such as La Quinta or Unidad Ciudad de los Ninos, prices drop slightly, maintaining a more residential profile than high commercial demand.
(Photo: Daniel Becerril/Reuters)
According to Daniel Blum, partner of the consulting firm 4S Real Estate in Guadalajara, the Guadalajara housing market already shows annual increases in rents of between 6 and 10%, especially in neighborhoods such as Providencia, Puerta de Hierro and La Americana, where “the entry of new industries has brought a more specialized demand for housing, with smaller and more flexible units.”
Juan Pablo Abaroa, regional partner of the firm in Monterrey, explains that the city has nearly 220 vertical projects in development and an average price of 80,000 pesos per square meter, with sales tickets that are around seven million pesos. “This has caused many people to not be able to buy and choose to rent. 34-meter apartments without parking are already rented between 18,000 and 20,000 pesos per month,” he points out.
The works revalue the areas
The World Cup will be a few games in each venue, but it generates an impact of million-dollar investments and public interventions: in Mexico City the urban improvement of the Banorte Stadium (formerly the Azteca Stadium), the construction of a cycle path and an elevated promenade in Calzada de Tlalpan and more trains for the Light Rail.
In Monterrey, the construction of two new Metro lines, one that will connect with the Mariano Escobedo International Airport as well as the creation of the Water Park; while in Guadalajara a new Electric Macrobus is planned from the Guadalajara International Airport to the Akron Stadium, as well as the renovation and expansion of avenues and roads.
Rosalba González Loyde, doctor in Sociology from the UAM and master in Urban Development from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, adds that although this investment seeks to improve mobility and have better public spaces, it will also bring an increase in the cost of housing around the World Cup venues.
“There is investment – both public and private – to improve public space and infrastructure. But what happens to the owners who take advantage of that infrastructure to now rent their homes not at the previous price but rather increase their value?” he says.
4S Real Estate specialists agree that these works, although they currently cause traffic annoyance, “will revalue the areas and improve connectivity in the medium term.”
Blum considers that in Guadalajara “the areas near the stadium, Andares or Chapultepec could be the most benefited”, while Abaroa foresees in Monterrey an economic spill of up to 1,000 million dollars and the creation of new housing centers in municipalities such as Apodaca, Escobedo, Guadalupe and San Nicolás, “thanks to the expansion of public transportation and changes in urban development plans.”
“There is an appreciation of the property, so we are going to begin to perceive elements of the classic definition of gentrification, which is a process of expulsion of a population with lower incomes for another with higher incomes, as a result of the increase in the cost of land and housing due to this investment,” explains González Loyde in an interview with Political Expansion.
Added to this is the scarce regulation on housing and land costs in Mexico, indicates the also UNAM academic.
Daniel Blum agrees that the phenomenon will be focused, especially in tourist areas or with better connectivity. “Many owners will probably shift their traditional rentals to short-term stays during the World Cup and some may keep them that way after the event.”
Juan Pablo Abaroa warns that, in Monterrey, areas that receive new infrastructure will maintain high prices even after the tournament, while others will tend to stabilize.
Airbnb regulation in World Cup cities
In Monterrey, the regulation of tourist housing platforms such as Airbnb is limited to the payment of a 3% tax on accommodation that is paid to the government of Nuevo León.
In Guadalajara, the Congress of Jalisco has discussed a reform project that includes limiting the accommodation time of tourist homes to a maximum of 180 nights a year, a restriction against which representatives of Airbnb and Expedia spoke out in legislative forums.
“In Guadalajara the sector has uncertainty regarding how and when the rules will be applied, but there is still a hunger for short-term rentals,” says Blum.
In Monterrey, Abaroa recalls that the vertical housing boom occurred since 2013 with transportation-oriented development (TOD), which triggered projects in the center and allowed the generation of denser and more affordable products, although today construction costs and inflation limit that trend.
Mexico City is the most advanced in creating limits for hosting platforms, at least on paper.
On October 3, 2024, a series of reforms approved by the capital’s Congress to the Tourism, Housing and Reconstruction laws were published to place restrictions on the rental of rooms, apartments and houses on platforms such as Airbnb.
However, more than a year later this legal framework is still not applied and the capital government has not yet enabled the registration platform for hosts, properties and companies that offer temporary tourist stays.
“It is impossible for the Government of Mexico City, given the inability it has demonstrated over the last year, to have the capacity in the coming months to apply a law that will also be detrimental to the government itself and the economic activity that awaits us next year,” says Patricia Urriza, deputy for Coyoacán from Movimiento Ciudadano (MC).
