Despite the pandemic, new home sales rise in Colombia

By: Metrocuadrado.com

The building sector is moving forward positively. According to figures from Galería Inmobiliaria, more than 14,000 new homes were sold in the country in July.

During that month, Colombians bought 10,533 social housing units (VIS), a 35 percent increase compared with June of this year. In fact, this figure exceeds the monthly average of VIS home purchases in 2019 (9,425 units), the year with the highest sales of this type of housing in the country's history.

Meanwhile, the recovery of the non-VIS segment also continues to perform well, reaching 3,520 units sold in July 2020, which shows the recovery trend that began last May is holding. Moreover, despite the current situation, sales in July this year are close to those recorded in July 2019, which were 3,960 homes.

In this regard, Housing Minister Jonathan Malagón praised the sector's rebound, noting that it is largely due to the announcement made on May 26 by the President of the Republic of the most ambitious housing subsidy package in the country's history.

"The recovery shown by VIS home sales is so significant that the 10,533 units sold in July 2020 exceeded the 2019 monthly sales average, the year in which a historic record for VIS home purchases was set. We value that, in the midst of the pandemic, initiatives like these from President Iván Duque's Government allow more and more Colombians to fulfill the dream of owning their own home," said Malagón.

The National Government made 200,000 home purchase subsidies available over the next two years. One hundred thousand will be for VIS homes and will go to families earning up to four monthly minimum wages, and 100,000 will be for households of any income level that want to buy a non-VIS home, valued above a social housing unit and not exceeding 500 minimum wages.

Beneficiaries of VIS subsidies will receive between 20 and 30 minimum wages for the down payment and 4 or 5 percentage points of interest rate coverage for 7 years, depending on their income.

Beneficiaries of subsidies for buying non-VIS homes will receive monthly support during the first seven years of the loan, reducing the installment by about 438,000 pesos, which amounts to a total subsidy equivalent to 42 minimum wages.