Energy poverty, considered a form of deprivation distinct from income poverty, is associated with three factors: low-income levels, high energy costs, and poor residential energy efficiency. It is necessary to study the socio-spatial distribution of energy poverty, particularly in metropolitan areas, due to persistent socioeconomic segregation and their public agenda implications, including the U.N. SDGs. A model of these characteristics can propose a spatial analysis of urban and climate implications, contributing evidence for public policy. This article aims to address energy poverty from a spatial approach extended to the urban area in Santiago de Chile through an exploratory model that estimates the impact of socioeconomic, urban, and climatic variables at a territorial scale on the performance of homes. Using a geographical weighted regression with the inside home temperature in winter as the dependent variable, the independent variables were the percentage of professionals, NDVI, annual thermal amplitude, and housing material quality. A housing quality pattern that acts as a proxy for vulnerability to energy poverty was found, repeating the distribution pattern of the different socioeconomic sectors. The findings incorporate a new interpretive matrix into the complex reproduction of segregation and inequality in a capital city from a developing country.

In real estate markets where energy efficiency certificates are not mandatory, such as Santiago in Chile, incorporating solutions that respond to the growing demand for sustainability entails a natural tension between their acceptance as necessary measures and the way they are addressed by the market. Under this mechanism, sustainability attributes have been introduced that are communicated individually through real estate promotion. A methodology consisting of two approaches was utilized to investigate the cross-validation of attributes, in terms of supply and demand, and the evolution of them in 8255 real estate advertisements for the period 2012–2017. Their positioning was more evident in higher-value homes, where they were identified as consolidated attributes, while they are considered innovations at the lower end of the market. However, as evidence suggests, sustainability attributes decline in relative importance over time, ceasing to be considered marks of distinction. This suggests that this model should be reviewed from a public policy perspective, with the understanding that the current voluntary standards must compete with other attributes. At the same time, it is necessary to make progress in the improvement of the obligatory minimum standards with the objective of establishing a more demanding baseline that incentivizes competitiveness in the market.

Resumen Si la especulación financiera es la posible ganancia a futuro de una acción realizada en el presente, el margen de ganancia se justifica por el riesgo que se corre. Esta investigación, sin embargo, demuestra que en el suelo urbano la ganancia a futuro se debe a su localización y no a lo que se construya sobre él. Así, como la localización no es permutable, la compra de suelo urbano casi no implica riesgos. Más que especulación, es un negocio garantizado.