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Simulator: How many square meters can you buy based on your salary in April 2026? - La Nacion Propiedades
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Simulador: cuántos m2 podés comprar según tu sueldo en abril de 2026
Un simulador de inversión en propiedades muestra que comprar un dos ambientes exige entre 20 y casi 100 años de salario mínimo
www.lanacion.com.ar
April 21, 2026
A property investment simulator shows that buying a one-bedroom apartment requires between 20 and almost 100 years of minimum wage.
The possibility of a worker being able to buy an apartment in the traditional way is becoming increasingly remote.Freepik - Image from Freepik
The debate on access to housing returns, time and again, to the same starting point: the gap between income and real estate prices . In a context where the price per square meter remains tied to the dollar and wages are growing far behind the cost of living, the possibility of a worker being able to buy an apartment through traditional means is becoming increasingly remote.
The minimum living wage, a key reference for measuring purchasing power , calculating social benefits and setting legal thresholds, is set at $352,400 per month as of March 1, 2026, according to what the Government established.
The regulations specify that this amount applies to salaried workers who work a full legal workday; those who work hourly receive $1762 per hour . Although it doesn't define the entire labor market, it does help to illustrate the gap between the lowest formal income and real estate market values in Buenos Aires.
In turn, according to data from INDEC (from the fourth quarter of 2025), the average income of the employed population in Argentina stood at an average of $1,068,540 per month.
In this scenario, where property reference prices remain dollarized and access to credit remains limited, an inevitable question arises: how much income is needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment in Buenos Aires?
How much income is needed to buy a two-room apartment in Buenos Aires?Ricardo Pristupluk
To answer this question, a simulation was developed using as an example a two-room apartment of 50 m² in five neighborhoods: Puerto Madero, Núñez, Palermo, Villa del Parque, and La Boca. The prices per square meter were obtained from surveys conducted on the Zonaprop platform, expressed in dollars, and were cross-referenced with the value of a property, the dollar exchange rate at the time, and the average income reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) , allowing for the creation of a map of property values and affordability.
Number of square meters that can be purchased depending on the neighborhood and income
In Puerto Madero, the most expensive in the city
A one-bedroom apartment of 50 m² in Puerto Madero, with an average price of US$6,148/m², is priced at around US$307,400 . At the official exchange rate (1,390 pesos to the dollar), this is equivalent to approximately $427.2 million . If we compare this to the average income reported by INDEC (the Argentine National Institute of Statistics and Censuses), a worker would need almost 33 years of their full salary to buy it, without spending anything else on anything else.In Núñez
In Núñez, where the price per square meter is around US$3,403, a one-bedroom apartment of 50 square meters reaches a value close to US$170,150 . At the official exchange rate (1,390 pesos to the dollar), this is equivalent to approximately $236.5 million . In terms of income, according to INDEC (the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses), an average worker needs around 18 years of full salary to afford the property.In Palermo
Something very similar happens in Palermo , one of the most sought-after neighborhoods: with a price per square meter of around US$3,390, the final price is approximately US$169,500 (about $235.6 million). In this case, it also requires about 18 years of average income to complete the purchase.
In Palermo, it takes about 18 years of average income to buy a one-bedroom apartment of 50 m2. Daniel Basualdo
In Villa del Parque
The gap begins to narrow in Villa del Parque, a middle-class neighborhood with more affordable prices: there, the price per square meter is around US$2,264 , so the same 50 m² unit costs around US$113,200 (about $157.3 million). Even so, the purchase requires about 12 years of average salary .In Lugano, the cheapest
Finally, Villa Lugano is the most affordable neighborhood in the analysis, with a price per square meter of US$1,090 . The estimated price for a one-bedroom apartment is around US$54,500 (approximately $75.8 million), which requires roughly six years of average income to afford it.www.buysellba.com
