Nearshoring threatens to exacerbate the housing crisis on Mexico’s northern border, where property prices rose almost 12 percent in the last year in Ciudad Juárez alone, according to the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals.
‘Nearshoaring’ has caused the arrival of thousands of foreign workers to Juárez, a city on the border with the US city of El Paso, Texas, which has made housing increasingly expensive and scarce, which is why maquiladoras are already building apartment towers to house their workers.
“Many companies come to the city and that boosts the number of jobs. We need housing for these workers, there are even housing towers that are being planned in the maquila areas,” said Marisela Sáenz, president of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals in Juárez.
For now, the organization does not have data on how many more homes are needed, but Sáenz explained that the companies with the largest expansions, such as Foxconn and Wistron, already have or are planning buildings for foreigners, since there are not enough on the market.
He added that, in general, companies are responsible for the rent because, being foreigners, they do not have guarantors or guarantees in Mexico and do not meet the requirements.
“They pay from 15,000 to 25,000 pesos per month (between about $882 and $1,470), depending on the position each employee holds, but there is a lot of need for people who come to work in the companies,” the broker added. of real estate.
Crisis amid boom
Mexico received a record of more than 36 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2023, an annual increase of 2.2 percent, given the rise of ‘nearshoring’, in which companies transfer production lines to the country that they have in other regions, especially Asia.
The phenomenon has particularly benefited cities on the border with the United States, such as Juárez, but it has also exacerbated an affordable housing crisis because construction in that sector has decreased and because the little that is produced is quickly absorbed by the market, according to Saenz.
The real estate representative also pointed out the low salaries of manufacturing workers, which, according to official data, averages around 12 thousand pesos per month (about 705 dollars), which limits them from renting or buying a home.
“The lease should not be more than 30 percent of what you earn, it is what you can pay in rent (rent), it cannot be 50 percent because you have to live, the basic basket, plus children, gasoline and everything.” “said Sáenz.
The maquilas build houses for their employees
Alejandro Téllez, director of CE Inmobiliaria, indicated that the manufacturing boom has brought a new trend: maquiladora companies rent or build houses.
“We have noticed that, especially in areas close to industrial parks, demand is very high and we have noticed that the maquiladora industry has been buying properties or renting them for their staff. “They rent up to 10 houses at a time,” he said.
“The homes they ask us for are houses that already have the furniture to be inhabited immediately and others are houses that are going to be used for a longer period of time, they are going to be used by people who are going to work in the industry and they are in charge of enable them,” he added.
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Juárez is the city with the largest personnel employed by the maquiladora industry, with around 300 thousand employees.
The interviewees cite that since the ‘nearshoaring’ phenomenon began until the first half of last year, Ciudad Juárez gained 56 thousand jobs in the maquiladora industry, which caused a deficit of up to 25 thousand employees, so companies seek to bring workers from other parts of Mexico and the world.
2024-03-05 19:28:13
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