Looking for housing is one of the most complex and detailed tasks for those seeking a home of their own or investing in real estate.

It is not only about price, sector, strata or ease of access. Aspects such as who built the project, the value of the sector or the characteristics of the project also come into play.

Taking into account that the Housing Fair was held in Medellín this weekend, where 65% of the entire offer of the capital of Antioquia, the Aburrá Valley and the Near East, the company LaHaus updated the Where to Invest Index (WII), which provides a weighted average of the areas with the best projection to invest in residential properties.

This, with the objective of offering a guide to investors and homebuyers. In the case of Medellín and its surroundings, the proptech revealed that the five best subzones for real estate investments are: Santa Ana (Bello); Vereda Las Cimarronas (Rionegro); Fontibón (Rionegro); El Porvenir (Rionegro); and Niquía (Bello).

The company clarified that four sources of information were taken into account for the analysis: increase in the value per square meter in a defined period of time (capital gain); speed with which the units (apartments or houses) were sold in a defined period of time (absorption); sales generated in the area during a given period of time and web searches.

“Taking into account that all the sectors mentioned appear for the first time in the Antioquia indicator, the most important conclusion is that the neighborhoods in the municipalities surrounding Medellín have become areas of constant expansion, very attractive for real estate investment. This trend, the index predicts, will continue in the coming months,” concluded LaHaus.

According to the company, both in Rionegro and Bello, the cost per square meter has shot up in recent years as a result of the proximity to Medellín.

Likewise, in the case of the municipality of Eastern Antioquia, the possibility that some citizens have of teleworking, “in order to avoid congestion and vehicular traffic in the urban area”, also had an influence.

According to the report, 8.2% was the increase in the value of Las Cimarronas, followed by El Porvenir (5.03%), Santa Ana (3.06%) and Niquía (1.67%).

New homes

The real estate boom in areas outside the large cities has also been due to the creation of new homes.

Among the most striking are the so-called DINKS and Empty Nesters. The acronym DINK stands for ‘dual income, no kids’ and is described for dual income couples with no children, while empty nesters refer to an older couple living alone after their children have grown up and left home.

In the case of real estate, these new families are looking with their budgets to have spaces in which housing identifies with their ideas of leisure, freedoms, shared spaces or the environment.

In this sense, homes are becoming more and more reduced, designs seek to optimize each part that is built, prioritizing issues such as light, ventilation or finishes.

“One of the current housing trends is to live outside the city and look for decentralized housing developments, away from the accelerated dynamics of the city. This goes hand in hand with the ‘slow city’ and ‘wellness’ philosophy, where safer spaces are sought, without pollution, without traffic jams and with social services at hand,” said Lina María Restrepo, development manager of Terravana, a real estate project in El Retiro designed for these new families.

Used, an option

The increasingly smaller spaces in some projects, more remote locations and higher prices per square meter have made used housing a good option for some buyers.

This was assured by the digital housing outlet Home Capital adding that this option allows finding properties that fit people’s budgets, with larger areas and in excellent locations.

“Thanks to our Outlet business model, it is possible for us to improve access to housing, by offering affordable options for middle-class Colombians,” said Alejandro Franco, Co-Founder President of Home Capital.

The executive added that in the capital of Antioquia, used homes range in size from 56 to 139 square meters, depending on the area in which they are located.

According to data from the startup, the average homes in the city have between 2 and 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and at least one garage, however some of these distributions vary according to the value of the property.

Franco counted, between 200 million and 275 million pesos there are apartments with an average area of 56 m2 to 98 m2 in areas such as Bello Oriente, La Marinilla, La Ceja, Itagüí, La Estrella, Carmen de Viboral, Guarne, Norte Antioquia, Occidente Norte and Sur de Medellín.

Also, for more than 400 million there are in places such as: Envigado and Sabaneta, with an average value of $489 million, in Laureles from $421 million, in the vicinity of El Retiro for $482 million, in Rionegro from $400 and El Poblado more than $700 million.