The Land Market in Mexico under Salinas: A Real-Estate Boom Revisited?

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Abstract
It is a central contention of urban political economy that changes in the macroeconomy will have demonstrable effects on land and housing markets. However, in few empirical studies has this relationship been investigated, particularly in cities of developing economies. The structure of the land market in Mexico under the changing economic conditions heralded by the election of Carlos Salinas de Gortari as Mexican President for the six-year (sexenio) period 1988–94 is studied in this paper. It is argued that the immediate policies of Salinas, especially the control of inflation, brought about a return to the favourable conditions of real-estate investment that had existed throughout most of the 1970s. But more recent policies and particularly those of economic liberalization may not bode quite so well for those wishing to place a large part of their investment portfolios in real estate. The paper concludes with some comments on the development of the land market and land prices as the Salinas sexenio progresses and some speculations about the type of legacy that will be left for his successor.

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