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Costs to Buy New Apartments in Medellín - Medellin Guru
We surveyed over 130 apartment buildings in the 5 most popular Medellín neighborhoods for expats to find out current costs to buy new apartments in Medellín.

Current Costs to Buy New Apartments in Medellín – 2019 Update

We surveyed over 130 apartment buildings in the 5 most popular Medellín neighborhoods for expats to find out current costs to buy new apartments in Medellín.

We previously looked at the prices to rent apartments in the 5 most popular Medellín neighborhoods for expats.

Several Medellin Guru readers have also asked about the costs to buy new apartments. So, we first look at the cost to buy new apartments in Medellín in this article.

The following table summarizes the findings of our survey of costs to buy new apartments in Medellín:

Average costs to buy new apartments in Medellín survey results, October 2019

Average costs to buy new apartments in Medellín survey results, October 2019

New apartment prices average 12.2 to 36.9 percent lower per square meter or per square foot in Laureles-Estadio, Envigado, Belén or Sabaneta compared to in El Poblado.

Note we used the exchange rate of 3,434 pesos to the U.S. dollar in this article.

Our Methodology

We surveyed new apartment projects listed in the October 2019 Informe Inmobiliario magazine that is distributed for free in Exito, Euro and other grocery stores. This magazine lists new apartment projects in the Medellín metro area.

We used this magazine to identify new apartment projects in the five neighborhoods in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley included in this article. For each apartment project we surveyed, we included only the smallest model apartment, which will tend to have the highest price per square meter.

The free Informe Inmobiliario magazine

The free Informe Inmobiliario magazine

Understanding Estratos in Colombia

It is very important to understand estratos when looking at neighborhoods in Colombia. Residential properties in Colombia are ranked in a socioeconomic scale, which are known as “estratos”. Estratos in Colombia run from 1 to 6, as follows:

  1. Low-low class (bajo-bajo)
  2. Low class (bajo)
  3. Low-middle class (medio-bajo)
  4. Middle class (medio)
  5. Middle-high class (medio-alto)
  6. High class (alto) – the wealthiest

In addition, it is important to understand that middle class in Colombia is not the same as middle class in a wealthy country like the U.S. Also, the wealthy estrato 6 in Colombia represents only about 3 to 4 percent of housing in Colombia.

The majority of Colombians live in estrato 1, 2 or 3 neighborhoods, which represents about 80 percent of the housing in Colombia. And most foreigners tend to live in estratos 3 to 6.

Apartment buildings near Santafé mall in El Poblado, Medellín

Apartment buildings near Santafé mall in El Poblado, Medellín

1. El Poblado

El Poblado is the most popular neighborhood for foreigners living in or visiting Medellín. In addition, El Poblado is considered the most upscale neighborhood in the city of Medellín.

El Poblado is where the most hotels, hostels and furnished apartments catering to foreigners are located. So, El Pobaldo is where most foreign visitors to Medellín stay. El Poblado is known as Comuna 14 and it has 22 barrios.

El Poblado is the wealthiest neighborhood in Medellín. El Poblado is primarily an Estrato 6 neighborhood with about 74 percent of the households rated at estrato 6. Also, it’s where the most expensive real estate and most expensive apartment rentals in the city tend to be located.

Most of the housing in El Poblado is located in high-rise apartments. And some of the high-rises in El Poblado have spectacular views of the city.

Population: 132,688

Number of New Apartment Projects: 36

Average Price to Buy New: 6.9 million pesos ($2,009) per square meter or $186.7 per square foot.

Price Range for New Apartments: 4.5 million to 10.2 million pesos ($1,324 to $2,975) per square meter or $123 to $276 per square foot.

Apartment buildings in Laureles, Medellín

Apartment buildings in Laureles, Medellín

2. Laureles-Estadio   

Laureles-Estadio is another popular neighborhood for foreigners living in Medellín. It has many areas with tree-lined streets and much fewer high-rise apartments than are found in El Poblado.

Also, Laureles is primarily a residential neighborhood. Laureles-Estadio is known as Comuna 11 and it has 15 barrios (neighborhoods).

Laureles-Estadio is home of Estadio Atanasio Giradot, which is the stadium where Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellin play fútbol matches. Also, near the stadium is a huge sports complex that has an Olympic size pool; basketball, volleyball and tennis courts; velodrome and many other sports arenas.

The first unfurnished apartment I rented in Medellín was located in Estadio near the stadium. Laureles-Estadio is primarily an estrato 4 and 5 neighborhood with about 99 percent of the homes rated as estrato 4 or 5.

There aren’t many new apartment projects in Laureles-Estadio, as this neighborhood is built-out and new projects tend to be replacements of older buildings.

Population: 122,972

Number of New Apartment Projects: 9

Average Price to Buy New: 6.1 million pesos ($1,764) per square meter or $163.9 per square foot.

Price Range for New Apartments: 5.0 million to 7.0 million pesos ($1,324 to $2,975) per square meter or $136 to $189 per square foot.

A view from the hills of Envigado

A view from the hills of Envigado

3. Envigado

Envigado is another popular neighborhood for foreigners living in Medellín.

Most notably, Envigado is less commercial than El Poblado and it is located directly south of El Poblado. Envigado is a separate municipality from Medellín. The Envigado municipality has over 40 barrios (neighborhoods).

In addition, Envigado is primarily a residential community. So, you won’t find many hotels or hostels in Envigado like are found in El Poblado.

Envigado has many areas with tree-lined streets and it has fewer high-rise apartments than are found in El Poblado. In addition, Envigado is considered to be more of a working-class community. In Envigado, 96 percent of housing is in estrato 2 to 5 and only 4 percent is in estrato 1 or 6.

Population: 232,900

Number of New Apartment Projects: 41

Average Price to Buy New: 5.3 million pesos ($1,548) per square meter or $143.8 per square foot.

Price Range for New Apartments: 3.5 million to 6.7 million pesos ($1,019 to $1,962) per square meter or $95 to $182 per square foot.

Apartment buildings in Belén

Apartment buildings in Belén

4. Belén

Belén is a neighborhood that is slowing becoming more popular for foreigners living in Medellín. Belén is located west of El Poblado on the other side of the Medellín river. Also, Belén is located south of Laureles-Estadio.

Belén is considered a middle-class area except that it has more of a blue-collar feel. Belén is known as Comuna 16 and it has 22 barrios (neighborhoods). In Belén, 98 percent of the housing in estrato 2 to 5 and only 2 percent in estrato 1.

Similar to Laureles/Estadio, in Belén you will find many tree-lined streets lined with one-story, two-story and three-story attached homes that are more difficult to find in El Poblado. In addition, Belén has some areas with high-rise apartment buildings, especially in the Loma de los Bernal barrio.

Furthermore, Belén is the comuna where I lived for over four years in three different barrios (Fatima, Loma de Los Bernal and Los Alpes).

Belén like Laureles-Estadio is nearly built out and has few new apartment projects.

Population: 197,493

Number of New Apartment Projects: 6

Average Price to Buy New: 4.5 million pesos ($1,300) per square meter or $120.9 per square foot.

Price Range for New Apartments: 3.4 million to 6.4 million pesos ($988 to $1,870) per square meter or $92 to $173 per square foot.

Apartment buildings in Sabaneta near Aves Maria mall

Apartment buildings in Sabaneta near Aves Maria mall

5. Sabaneta

Sabaneta is located directly south of Envigado. Sabaneta is a separate municipality from Medellín, like Envigado. Sabaneta has been booming with developers building many apartment buildings over the past several years. With all the new apartment buildings in the area there are many unfurnished rentals available.

Sabaneta has a total area of about 5.8 square miles, which makes it the smallest municipality in all of Colombia. The Sabaneta municipality has 31 barrios (neighborhoods).

Much of the daily life in Sabaneta is centered around Parque Sabaneta, which is a one square block plaza that is filled with trees for shade. Also, this park is surrounded by several small restaurants, bars and shops.

In addition, Sabaneta has become increasingly popular with foreigners looking for an alternative. Rentals in Sabaneta can be much cheaper than in El Poblado, Envigado or Laureles-Estadio.

Sabaneta is more of a working-class community. 98 percent of the housing in Sabaneta is estrato 2 to 4. And only 2 percent is estrato 1, 5 or 6.

I currently live in Sabaneta. I have lived in Sabaneta for over three years and I hear English more and more around town as more foreigners discover this area.

Population: 103,217

Number of New Apartment Projects: 43

Average Price to Buy New: 4.3 million pesos ($1,267) per square meter or $117.7 per square foot.

Price Range for New Apartments: 2.4 million to 5.4 million pesos ($697 to $1,559) per square meter or $123 to $145 per square foot.

Medellin Guru partners with RE/MAX for real estate services

Medellin Guru partners with RE/MAX for real estate services

Are You Looking to Buy or Sell Real Estate in Colombia?

Medellin Guru partnered with RE/MAX Coffee Realty to offer real estate services to foreigners and Colombians interested in buying and selling properties in Medellín and Colombia.

Several Medellin Guru readers have asked about real estate and advice about buying and selling real estate. So, we partnered with RE/MAX Coffee Realty to offer reliable real estate services to readers.

We decided to partner with RE/MAX Coffee Realty for services for buying and selling real estate for several reasons:

  • RE/MAX is the largest real estate company in the world and is a well-known brand for foreigners.
  • RE/MAX is one of the largest real estate companies in Colombia with 35 offices in four cities (Medellín, Bogotá, Cali and Barranquilla). So, RE/MAX can offer real estate services to readers in several locations in Colombia.
  • In Colombia, RE/MAX has over 350 real estate agents including more than 70 agents in Medellín. Also, RE/MAX has agents that are bilingual and speak both English and Spanish.
  • RE/MAX ensures properties are not overpriced by performing a study of market property prices known as an ACM (Análisis Comparativo del Mercado).

To use this real estate partner service from RE/MAX, just click on the button below.

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Fill out a very short form and RE/MAX offers a free consultation to provide information about the local market, current pricing information and tips for buying or selling properties.

Medellin Guru’s Guide to Buying, Selling and Renting Apartments and Choosing a Neighborhood

On the Medellin Guru website, we have a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to buying, selling and renting apartments and choosing a neighborhood in Medellín found in several articles, including:

Buying and Selling Apartments

Renting Unfurnished Apartments:

Renting Furnished Apartments:

Choosing a Neighborhood in Medellín:

Also, we have several articles that can be used to help foreigners choose a neighborhood in Medellín:

A new apartment project in Sabaneta

A new apartment project in Sabaneta

The Bottom Line: Current Costs to Buy New Apartments in Medellín

The different neighborhoods in Medellín offer a wide range of costs to buy new apartments. El Poblado remains the most popular neighborhood for foreigners out of all of the Medellín neighborhoods.

But El Poblado has the highest average costs to buy new apartments in Medellín, as seen in our above survey results. Also, El Poblado has the highest average costs for buying used apartments and renting unfurnished or furnished apartments.

Furthermore, new home prices in Medellín have been increasing at a faster pace then inflation. According to DANE, new home prices increased 8.5 percent in the past year in Medellín.

The bottom line is you have many neighborhood choices in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley and to each his own, everyone’s priorities are different. Also, there are a wide range of amenities and a wide range of cost-of-living.

Used apartments in Medellín can be purchased for significantly lower prices than new apartments. And the prices can vary dramatically depending on the age, location and amenities of apartments. We plan to look at the prices for used apartments in Medellín in a future article.

Sign up for the Free Medellin Guru Newsletter – You can see all of the previous Medellin Guru weekly email newsletters and sign up here.

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11 thoughts on “Current Costs to Buy New Apartments in Medellín – 2019 Update”

    1. Jeff,
      An excellent article, thank you.
      Any idea of per square meter prices for resale apartments located in El Poblado?

    2. Daniel Rusteen December 16, 2020

      Will you update this for Coronavirus year? I’m looking to buy now.

    3. Jeff,

      Do you have any insights on closing costs with Lawyers and necessary fees they normally charge?

    4. John and Susan Pazera October 10, 2019

      Nice report Jeff. It would be interesting to see how long these places are on the market? Sure are a lot of Vende sales here in Laureles.

      • Wow! That’s more than I thought. We bought a “used” 3/2 apartment in 2015 at just under 2,400,000 COP/sq meter in Alejandria barrio Poblado. That was just slightly under what we found the going rate to be while shopping.

        A new 15-20 story building across the street opened about a year ago. I’m not sure if it’s fully sold, but there is no sales office on-site. It can’t be more than about 25-35% occupied based on lit apartments at night. Originally about 5,000,000 per sq meter 2-3 years ago while under construction. Who is buying these?

        I look forward to your survey of established buildings. The purchase prices probably almost 50% less than new. But even that would be more than I expected before reading this survey.

    5. David Williams October 8, 2019

      Thanks for the helpful post. El Poblado looks to have higher cost for new homes than in some cities in the U.S. $186.7 per square foot is expensive.

    6. When my wife and I moved to Sabaneta years back, there were only 44,000 residents…and now there are over 100,000! That’s the reason we sold and moved out. I did not know Sabaneta now is zoned for 6 estratos. When we lived there, the highest estrato was only a 5 (primarily, the townhouses on Loma Linda were estrato 5). The smaller municipalities in Colombia only go as high as 5.

    7. Jeff I’m still struggling with your costs to buy per square meter. I don’t understand what is a average appartment in Poblado for example. If a typical appartment had say 500 square meters. Then that would suggest cost to buy 500 times $2,009 that is over $1 million. Is that true? Some example of different sized apartments, according to bedrooms etc would really clarify for me. Thanks for your work.

      • 500 square meters is huge – multiply square meters by 10.7639 and that is 5,381 square feet. A normal size apartment in El Poblado may be 100 square meters or smaller and typically is no more than 200 square meters. For example, one of the new apartments we surveyed in El Poblado was a 3-bedroom 131 square meters (1,410 square feet) apartment for 991,573,000 pesos or $288,752 USD, which is $205 per square foot.

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