The greater penetration of mortgage credit so that people can acquire a home and generate their assets is a reflection of the good dynamism of the economy and the strength of the labor market, said Carlos Martínez, director of the Institute of the National Housing Fund for the Workers (Infonavit).
In an interview during the 87th Banking Convention, he mentioned that all the modifications and efforts that this institution has made in the last five years have allowed more workers to access financing.
I think the Mexican labor market is at its best and has not stopped growing after the pandemic, having sustained growth is going well and so is the salary increase, formality is much more attractive today than before
explained Martínez.
He considered that since the beginning of the current government and as a result of improvements in the labor market, housing became more flexible and Infonavit now has different products to offer the worker, with lower rates than ever.
It is a labor market that is growing for the right reasons, it is not growing with the precariousness of the labor market, but the other way around, given that the labor market is attractive, people are going to work formally, because today it is convenient, because today they have a series of very good conditions and that makes institutions like the IMSS or Infonavit
are more attractive, the manager noted.
With the modifications, such as changing minimum wage credits to pesos, workers approach the institute because He sees it as very attractive to be able to pay off his house and that with the renovation that was done he can take out another one and another, because before Infonavit only gave one loan and now you pay off and you can take out another
.
He specified that those who use Infonavit services are those with an average income of 12 thousand pesos per month and There are most of the people who find housing, who have enough credit to buy a home, because after getting a home they now buy land.
which indicates that lower-income workers already have a better offer to buy a home.
Nowadays, Martínez pointed out, what Infonavit is looking for is that people, especially young people, can use the resources in their accounts to start renting a home and then decide whether or not to buy the property, because otherwise there will be accounts that can never be used.
Land grabbing takes away opportunities
You have to force people not to hoard the land, the phenomenon of speculation begins with the hoarding of the land, I buy land and keep it until the price rises and I sell, all those years you took the opportunity away from thousands of people that a house could be built there, the states have to have much more active policies to ensure that the land is not monopolized
he explained.
Also, Martínez added, Infonavit is seeking the authorities to give it approval so that it can begin to build housing throughout the country and thus be able to offer housing at good prices for all workers, and it is possible to do so even when it seems that there are entities where a property can no longer be built.
“When we imagine Mexico City we think that there is no longer land, no, there is no longer land in the imagination of use, because maybe you can see a coffee shop and say ‘that is occupied’, no, because not We imagine that above the coffee shop you can make apartments; The issue is not the land itself, but the use of the land. I think it is important to discuss uses that are mixed uses, that densities are allowed and that frees up land,” he stated.