
Renting an apartment in El Salvador can be an intriguing venture, especially for those unfamiliar with the local market. In this article, you’ll discover the ins and outs of the cost of renting an apartment in El Salvador, including typical price ranges and where to find the best deals.
Whether you’re looking for a cozy one-bedroom or a spacious three-bedroom unit, our guide will equip you with all the necessary information to make an informed decision.
Continue reading because in this post we will first look at the context of the apartment market in El Salvador (and how it has been in recent years).
And then we will delve into the topic of current prices, some specifics and details to consider, and also where to look for apartments in El Salvador.
How was the apartment market from 1992 to 2022?
From 1992 to 2000, practically no apartment buildings were constructed, and if some were built, they could be counted on one hand.
It was more or less from the year 2000 onwards that construction companies began to occasionally build some apartment buildings in the country.
Another thing to mention is how the market behaved during the time of the gangs (las maras), which was approximately from 1992 to 2022, that is, around 30 years.
Since the gangs were like a kind of fungus that had contaminated neighborhoods and communities, the construction companies that dared to build any apartment buildings would only do so in certain areas.
And those areas were high-value zones, meaning expensive or moderately expensive areas. For example, the Colonia Escalón area, Zona Rosa, San Benito, Antiguo Cuscatlán, and a few other areas.
Therefore, all the apartment buildings constructed in approximately 30 years were apartments for people with a certain purchasing power, as they were apartment buildings located in high value-added areas, i.e., areas that were not as plagued by gangs in those years compared to other parts of the country.
Supply and demand (number of available apartments vs demand)
At least by the date this information was originally published (June 2024), in El Salvador, compared to other more urbanistically developed countries, the number of apartment buildings in El Salvador is not many, and they can be said to be few, still very few.
Therefore, the supply of apartments is not very broad and is restricted to certain areas. This is due to the violent past El Salvador experienced because of the gangs.
Although that changed (thank God) and the gang situation has taken a 180-degree turn, El Salvador did not develop much during all those violent years.
To that violent past with little investment in apartment buildings, it is added the fact that El Salvador is a country where, in the metropolitan area and throughout the country, most people live in houses and not in apartments.
Due to the small number of apartment buildings (between 1992 and 2022) that were constructed for the reasons previously explained, all of this contributed to the prices remaining high or relatively high. The law of supply and demand is well known to everyone.
Added to that, I personally believe that housing prices, in general, are somehow inflated although I have seen this happen in other countries as well.
Number of available apartments
In the case of apartments, the number of apartments available for rent in El Salvador is not small, but for the population size of the metropolitan area, it is a fairly low number of available apartments, at least in my opinion.
Furthermore, of all the existing apartments (judging by the number of rental offers that can be found in a quick internet search), it can be deduced that most are occupied by their own owners or that the vast majority are already rented out.
Therefore, only a small percentage of that total is available for rent, or in other words, only a certain percentage is available to be leased.
Obviously, the issue of housing abundance (houses and especially apartments) is expected to improve over time.
After having explained the context of the apartment market in El Salvador, let’s now start addressing the main topic: rental prices.
Rental prices for apartments
Currently, a cheap apartment is around $350 per month and the cheapest (if you’re lucky) is $300 per month. At least that’s the case at the time of publishing this information.
The location of these cheap apartments in El Salvador is not necessarily in an apartment building; they could be in a house or property that has been modified to create a small apartment and put it up for rent.
Basically, the cheapest prices are for this type of apartment: someone who, in their house, fixed up a small space to offer it for rent as an apartment. This way, it is possible to find apartment offers in various parts of the country, not just in the metropolitan area.
In these cases, if it is in a remote area or municipality far from the metropolitan area, the rental price tends to be lower. However, the disadvantage is that these opportunities are rare since not many people have modified their home or property to create a small apartment for rent.
Additionally, it should be clarified that these “cheap apartments for rent” offers are often, in many or most cases, rooms with a bathroom that are rented out under the name of “apartments.” Though these “apartments” usually have some sort of independent access.
And remember, there are always exceptions; everything will depend on the offers available at the time of your search. The key is to “SEARCH.”
Most common prices for renting an apartment (in San Salvador)
Specifically talking about apartments in San Salvador and its surroundings, the most common prices for apartments in the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador range from $550, $650, to $700 per month.
These are not luxurious apartments but rather good apartments usually located in nice apartment buildings.
Remember the following: Living in an apartment in El Salvador implies to others that the person is not of limited means or at least has a certain purchasing power greater than most of the population.
Over time, if apartment buildings focused on “social housing” are developed, or if more affordable apartments for the local population, the notion that living in apartments is only for people with a certain purchasing power will gradually disappear.
Higher Prices (in San Salvador)
Regarding the highest prices, the most common are $1200, $1400, and $1500 per month. Of course, there are more expensive apartments, which, given the infrastructure level of El Salvador, would be the most luxurious apartments available.
For example, among the most luxurious buildings is Torre El Pedregal, where it is common to find rental prices around $2000 for a furnished apartment.
Other examples include Alisios 115, Torre Terra Alta, and Torres Campestres, just to mention a few.
Where to look for apartments?
Whether you just want to check prices or are seriously considering moving to El Salvador, you can search on online classified sites that operate in El Salvador.
Among them is Encuentra24.com (site). Another option is to search on Facebook Marketplace (site), though in this case, you will need to set the map to El Salvador. This is obviously to ensure that the results are within El Salvador.
You can search using the following term:
- apartamento en alquiler
Prices are often negotiable, so be sure to ask for the best monthly rate they can offer.
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