More and more Californians heading to Tijuana in search of affordable housing

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — A two-bedroom, two-bathroom rental apartment in San Diego currently goes for about $2,400 a month, and the median price for a house is listed at more than $770,000, according to Norada Real Estate Investment.

With housing prices in Southern California skyrocketing, many U.S. citizens and legal residents are heading south of the border in search of an affordable place to live.

“Since the beginning of the (coronavirus) pandemic the number of buyers and people looking to rent a house in Tijuana has increased considerably,” said Fermín Kim King, president of the Real Estate Association of Tijuana. “There’s a tremendous shortage of housing over there.”

Kim King said that as long as available housing remains minimal in San Diego, Tijuana will continue to see an impact with more and more people crossing the border looking for less expensive homes.

Former San Diegans, like Sergio Roseti, say they had no choice but to move south of the border.

“Necessity forces us to be south of the border,” said Roseti. “Housing in the United States is extremely expensive, sharing a room costs you $500, a studio is $1,000 minimum, for an apartment it’s $1,500 to $3,000.”

Roseti moved to Tijuana right around the time the pandemic began.

“It’s the reason why many people now live here, and the number grows every day, they migrate to Tijuana because rent is cheaper here,” said Roseti.

But with more Americans and legal U.S. residents moving to Tijuana, the cost of housing is going up in that city as well.

According to Kim King, the shortage of housing in California is creating a price surge in Tijuana’s housing and apartment market with rents now ranging from $400 to $2,500 a month.

“Unfortunately everything is based on supply and demand, we are seeing that rent prices have gone up by 30 percent as low and mid-range housing is now in high demand by Americans coming here,” he said.