Buying in Lomas de Chapultepec

Most colonias in Mexico City make you choose: plenty of apartments and only the occasional house. Lomas de Chapultepec splits almost down the middle, and its houses, stately (señorial) builds from the 1930s through the 1970s on deep, gardened lots, come up for sale in numbers almost no other colonia matches. Prices sit at the very top of the city, in the same league as Polanco and, for houses, above Bosques de las Lomas across the barranca in Cuajimalpa. Newer apartment buildings concentrate along Paseo de las Palmas and the stretch of Reforma that opens at the Fuente de Petróleos.

What to consider before buying

With houses of that age, ask for the construction year and what has been renewed: wiring, plumbing and waterproofing tell you more than the facade does. Decide early which side of the colonia's split fits you: an apartment on the avenues puts offices and restaurants at your door, while a house on the interior streets gives you quiet and a garden in exchange for depending on the car. The same señorial houses, in a smaller and quieter pocket, continue into Lomas de Virreyes.