In August 2026, Expansión reported that 294,660 homes in Mexico City, 16.5 percent of the total, have no escrituras, the public deeds that prove ownership. The figures come from the national household income and expenditure survey of 2024, as cited by the federal ministry of urban development, SEDATU.
In April 2026, Infobae warned against “escrituras de palabra” (deeds by word). It wrote that many people wrongly believe that a simple private contract of sale is enough to prove ownership. The safe route, it explained, is a public deed before a notary, entered in the public property register.