Camilo Novoa Martínez, a 23-year-old man with whom I spoke last Wednesday, expressed his interest in buying a new home, but also the reality of having to postpone the investment because the accounts he made forced him to make that decision: “I found very expensive homes, at least for my possibilities, because I still don’t have much saved; Also, even though I’m alone, I don’t want such a small area and what I saw of 25 square meters, on average, is very expensive”, he noted.
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Still, I was surprised that he was clear on the strategy to one day own it. He told me that he came to Bogotá, from Tuluá (Valle del Cauca), to study systems engineering and that he was welcomed by a relative where he has lived since 2017. «They’re not ‘throwing me out’, but I want to become independent, since it’s been almost six years now»added.
Martínez is very young, but organized. While we were having coffee, we took out a notebook intended only for the accounts that he has made in order to achieve the goal of having his space: “For now, something new is not within my reach. Therefore, I think that starting with a used studio apartment for rent could be an option”.
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40.2 percent of households in Colombia were renting or subleasing, according to the 2022 Quality of Life Survey
In that informal conversation of someone who is not in the day-to-day real estate market, there are many truths: he is just starting out and although his three and a half-year working life has allowed him to save, You still need to adjust to access an apartment ‘zero kilometers’ or used with little time builtWell, I warn you that you would prefer not to have to spend money to renew it and, therefore, a very old one does not attract your attention.
Thus, in order to have your first home, it is necessary that The first step will be to rent a used property that does not exceed a monthly fee of 1.7 million pesos in order to savesince, fortunately, he is in the privileged group of Colombians with a job and while he can, he says, «I must take advantage of the fact that I have work and income.»
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Some people contemplate the possibility of temporary lease.
Some analysts agree that, indeed, the rent is a first step for the profile of people like Camilo; besides, They agree that the possibility of saving is a way to facilitate the subsequent purchase decision.
The increase in more people accessing the rental is supported by the Dane statistics, which in the 2022 Quality of Life Survey highlights that the 40.2 percent of households in Colombia were renting or subleasing (1.6 percentage points more than in 2021), compared to 34.9 percent who lived in their own, fully paid.
Even, some buyers put off investing because, among other factors, they encountered high interest rates, While in the case of social housing, the new provisions related to the subsidies destined to promote the social offer impacted the acquisition.
Jimena Rico, director of market research for the multinational real estate company CBRE Colombia, said that in the face of these scenarios «Some people are contemplating the possibility of temporary leasing or investing in alternatives such as a CDT, which allows them to increase their wealth and then purchase their home.» And yes, it’s true, for the Camilo show. In his project book are the accounts of a CDT that is also part of the savings with which he hopes to add and scale to be an owner.
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GABRIEL E. FLOREZ G.
Special for EL TIEMPO
@GabrielFlorezG