Real Estate in LatAm Vs. U.S.: How Much do Properties Cost in Their Main Cities and States?

Montevideo and Mexico City not only are the two most expensive cities to buy real estate in Latin America. They would also be in the top 10 of most expensive states in the U.S., according to a comparison from the most recent cost of buying real estate in the country and the region.

Latin America's figures stem from a new report by Argentine real estate company Zonaprop and Di Tella University, while the ones from the U.S. do so from PortlandRealEstate.com. They show that the average price of a square meter in the Uruguayan capital clocks in at $3,166, while that of Mexico city does so at $2,948.

Prices in the U.S., meanwhile, are measured in square feet, which is almost 0.01 square meters. After calculating the equivalences, figures show that Montevideo would be in 7th place in the U.S. ranking, just below Washington, where the average square foot costs $315.38, and above New Jersey, where the price is $310.26.

Mexico City, on its end, would be at the bottom of the top 10, placing over Colorado's $287.11 per square foot.

Prices in the rest of Latin American cities vary widely. Monterrey, also in Mexico, is in third place with $2,621 per square meter, followed by Guadalajara (Mexico) and Santiago (Chile).

Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Lima's prices ranges between $2,400 and $2,100 per square meter, while the rest of the cities surveyed -Panama City, Rosario, Cordoba (both in Argentina), Bogota (Colombia) and Quito (Ecuador)- range between $1,761 and $1,202.

"In order to achieve a homogeneous and comparable sample, the report takes into account the prices asked by sellers in classified ads for one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 20 to 100 square meters and whose total price range is between US$10,000 and US$300,000, says the report's methodology," reads the Zonaprop report about its methodology.

In the U.S., meanwhile, prices vary even more. Hawaii is at the top with $681.09 per square foot, a wide difference with California, at second, with $422.55. West Virginia is on the other end of the spectrum, with $133.72 per square foot. In fact, the state would be third in Latin America's ranking, only above Quito and Bogota and below Argentina's Cordoba and Rosario.

However, the math can be somewhat trick, as the average cost of a house can vary based on its size. "The average home price in Hawaii is $850,000 — the highest of any state — while the average house size is 1,248 square feet, making the average price per square foot $681.09. But in Colorado, the average home price is $649,450 and the average house size is 2,262 square feet," reads the PortlandRealEstate.com report.