75% of Latin Americans cut spending to pay for housing

Rising housing costs are forcing 75% of residents of Latin America and the Caribbean to cut other spending, draw on savings or take on additional jobs, according to a study by the NGO Habitat for Humanity published by AlbertoNews. The report says that 33% of respondents cut spending on food, 32% tapped emergency funds and 13% delayed or avoided medical care over the past year.

This housing crisis unfolds against a structural backdrop: a deficit affecting more than 40% of the region's population, according to Ernesto Castro, area vice president for the Habitat for Humanity region, in remarks reported by the outlet. In addition, some 120 million people live in informal settlements, while more than 78% of the economically active population works in the informal sector, which limits their access to mortgage loans and creates a double financial exclusion.

The pressure on households also shapes long-term decisions. Some 56% of respondents say high costs make it difficult to consider starting a family, a share that rises to 62% among Generation Z and millennials. The problem combines qualitative factors, such as precarious materials and a lack of basic services, with high urban vulnerability, given that more than 80% of the population lives in urban or peri-urban areas.

For the expert, part of the difficulties lies in the design of public subsidies, whose current limits leave out households with incomes too low for formal banking. Separately, recent economic reports from outlets such as Infobae indicate that operating costs such as electricity rose by nearly 150% for retail businesses, and that the cost of commercial premises rose 138%, which makes the broader economic environment in which families try to sustain their budgets more expensive.