The Challenge of Valuing Lifestyle in Housing

The current urban model is undergoing an extraordinary transformation, driven by the imperative need to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants. In many cases, large cities have become chaotic places where meeting basic needs — work, food, and leisure — becomes an almost impossible task. The trend toward vertical and compact housing in these urban hubs is already a reality, serving as the predominant response to the demands of new generations who seek to satisfy these needs with the least possible effort.

However, for those of us dedicated to valuation, this shift poses a fundamental challenge: How do we capture the value of an asset where efficiency and surroundings carry more weight than square footage, without deviating from the methodological rigor required by the market?

Traditional vs. 2026 Reality

Traditional valuation methodologies have been built on the analysis of a standard: location and square footage, where the prevailing reality was "the more meters, the higher the price." But in 2026, the market dictates that a 50 m2 apartment, designed with spatial intelligence and located within a service ecosystem, can have higher liquidity and value than a larger traditional home, even if the latter is well-located just a couple of blocks away.

The challenge in these cases lies in detecting and capturing that consumption trend. We must avoid the common error of falling back on traditional comparison models if we are unable to observe the differentiators of today’s consumer.

Innovating Within a Regulated Framework

As valuation units, we operate in a regulated market with very specific guidelines on "how to do" and "what not to do." These basic and necessary rules, dictated by the SHF are fundamental to providing certainty and stability to the Mexican financial system. Therefore, our job as expert appraisers is not to question the regulations, but to be rigorous in their application while remaining ingenious when capturing these new inflationary value elements.

The true success of the modern appraiser does not lie in inventing new formulas, but in designing new comparable adjustment models (standardization) that are supported, justified, and capable of capturing new consumption habits.

Until now, adjustment factors have focused on classic variables: age, state of conservation, surface area, and location. But today, for an appraisal to reflect market reality, we must be able to capture and quantify new value determinants. Factors such as design efficiency, the integration of productive amenities (coworking, integrated services, or co-living models), and effective connectivity (proximity to transit, existence of bike lanes, among others) must be integrated with technical precision into our market sampling.

The Adjustment Challenge: From Physical to Functional

The key question we ask ourselves at Tasvalúo is: How do we incorporate these new value determinants into the currently established model?

If the market is willing to pay a premium for compact housing due to time savings and access to experiences, the appraiser must reflect that preference in their study. This requires a much deeper analysis of our samples and consumption habits. We must select comparables that share not only a geographic zone but also this "functional DNA."

Expertise in our discipline consists of developing solid technical criteria that allow for the adjustment of market values based on efficiency factors. For example, the presence of shared services or hyper-connectivity can no longer be mere comments within the appraisal observations; they must be computable variables incorporated into the adjustment table with proper justification, ensuring the final value in the report is a faithful reflection of the closing price in today's market.

The Evolution of Housing: Hard Facts (2024–2025)

The preference for vertical housing is no longer just a trend but a national reality. According to recent reports from major consultancies like 4S Real Estate, data from the Federal Mortgage Society (SHF), and Tasvalúo’s own databases, we observe the following:

• Vertical Dominance: Currently, Mexico City (CDMX), Guadalajara, and Monterrey account for approximately 60% of the national vertical housing inventory.
• Shrinking Spaces: The average size of new units has dropped drastically. In high-appreciation zones of Guadalajara and CDMX, the average surface area has fallen from 106 m2 to 71 m2 (and continues to decline) over the last five years, even as the price per m2 continues to rise.
• Absorption Speed: In cities like Guadalajara, vertical inventory tripled between 2019 and 2024.
• New Players: The trend shows that mid-sized cities such as Queretaro, Merida, Puebla, and Tijuana are replicating this model, moving away from extensive horizontal development in favor of mixed-use projects.

This leads us to ask: What is behind this trend? Why fewer square meters?

Millennials (who represented 40% of home purchases in 2023) and Gen Z are not buying square footage, they are buying time and access.

While some may wonder if this is a genuine preference or an adaptation forced by rising prices, at Tasvalúo, we believe it is a mix of both, driven primarily by four key aspects:

1. Time as the Ultimate Asset: Today, free time is the most valuable commodity. Young people prefer a 50 m2 apartment where they can walk or bike to work, the gym, or a coffee shop, rather than a 120 m2 house on the outskirts (for example, Zumpango in Edomex or García in NL) that requires two to four hours of daily commuting.
2. The Building as an Extension of the Home: This involves the inclusion of shared amenities. The mindset is: "Why do I need a huge living room if I can meet my friends on the roof garden? Why an office if the building has a coworking space?" The apartment becomes a sanctuary for rest, while the building and its immediate surroundings become the spaces for socializing.
3. Demographic Shifts: The evolution of the traditional Mexican family is playing a major role. There is a consistent increase in single-person households and DINKs (Double Income, No Kids).
4. The Cost Factor: Finally, the economic reality cannot be ignored. For most young people, accessing a 100 m2 home in prime areas is financially impossible. Living in neighborhoods like Roma (CDMX) or Americana (GDL) is only mathematically feasible by reducing the square footage. It is a simple transaction: status and location in exchange for space.

Certainty in Times of Change

The future of professional valuation in Mexico depends on our ability to evolve alongside market needs. It is not about abandoning technical rigor, but about enriching it with innovative elements and techniques that remain respectful of methodology and criteria.

By refining our adjustment models and integrating these new determinants into our sampling, we fulfill our most important mission: providing certainty and security in decision-making. Certainty for the buyer investing their heritage, guarantees for the banks granting credit, and value capture for developers betting on denser, more efficient cities.

At Tasvalúo, we are convinced that the value of the future is not measured solely in square meters, but in the capacity of spaces to enhance the lives of those who inhabit them. Our commitment is to translate that social reality into precise and reliable financial data.