Buying a home in Puerto Rico requires annual income above $100,000, far higher than the island’s median household income, according to an analysis by Estudios Técnicos, a planning research and consulting organization. The analysis found the average price of a used home in Puerto Rico reached $223,155 in 2025, up 4% from the prior year, while new homes averaged $421,191, up 7.1%.
It estimated that $105,297 in annual income is needed to afford a home, compared with a median household income of $34,730, based on Census data cited in the analysis. Mortgage rates have also risen. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 3.1% in the United States in 2020, according to Freddie Mac, rose to a 2025 annual average of 6.66%, and stood at 7.32% on October 22, 2026.
Financed home units in Puerto Rico fell 24%, from 13,541 in 2021 to 10,246 in 2025. The number of households dropped from 1,376,531 to 1,330,985 in 2025. Costs have trended upward since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply chain disruptions caused shortages and higher material prices.
The analysis found metal construction products have risen 68% in cost since 2019. Economist Leslie Adames told Primera Hora that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on some raw materials contribute; iron and steel carry an additional 50% tariff, and their cost has risen 65% since 2019, per the analysis. Adames urged the Puerto Rico government to identify abandoned homes in urban centers that could be rehabilitated, build upward with apartment buildings, and create incentives, credits or subsidies within its fiscal limits.