Buying Real Estate in BA

[Archimebuenosaires]

- Buenos Aires "Golden construction era" runs from 1880 to 1930. Note that if You Buy a property built before 1941 there is a "Heritage protection" law. If the level of protection is "structural", You will not be able to make modifications to the property
- If the apartment is facing front is more expensive than if it is facing back
-Prices published can be aprox 10 percent highger than the number the owner is expecting to receive. That being said, the fees and taxes for buying a property can reach that 10 percent.
- Read carefully both the roofed/interior area and semi-roofed (balconies, patios,etc), not only the total area.
-check electricity, gas, plumbing and sewgage systems
-all regarding the communal living of a building is written in the "reglamento de consorcio". For example, if it is for professional use, so clients/ customers can access the building. You may read it before buying.
- You can talk to the neighbors and doorman of the intended-to-buy-building in order to get to know the actual situation
-the cost depends on locaction, area, amenities, expensas and sometimes above all, the need of the owner to sell.
-prices are decreasing because lack of loans and limited access to dollars.
-there are new developing areas that can be a good investment, such as Colegiales. I am an architect, and I know some coleagues who are building in these areas

I hope this information helps you!
If You need any further assistance, please contact me!
Archime

 

[Rich One]

Clarin reports today that properties in CABA went down at least 8% , with reduced demand due to devaluation and fewer UVA housing loans available . Owners are resigned to sell for less..?

(check Clarin)

 

[Rich One]

The Clarin Article reports that the value of used 2 and 3 ambientes went down to $ 2196 ARS per m2..?

 

[Macanudo]

What do they mean by $2196 ARS?

 

[Rich One]

What do they mean by $2196 ARS?

A typo should read US$2190 per m2

 

[Joglide]

The Clarin Article reports that the value of used 2 and 3 ambientes went down to $ 2196 ARS per m2..?

One reason for falling demand: "A new study says that the average income of working Argentines has slumped by more than 40 percent in dollar terms since 2015. In all, the report found that the median salary among the formally employed workforce had suffered a brutal collapse of 44.3 percent in dollar terms during the four years of the Mauricio Macri government. The decline was even sharper when measuring the purchasing-power of the minimum wage..." BA Times

 

[garryl]

Here is an interesting thread about determining the value of property in BA:

How do people work out how much a property in Argentina is actually worth?

Say there are 2 apartments in the same building, same floor and in more or less the same condition. Vendor 1 wants 250k for theirs yet vendor 2 wants 300k for theirs. What information is there in the public domain to help a buyer decide which is the closer to a fair value? I see so many prices...

baexpats.org

Let Argentines tell you how much their real estate is worth.

 

[Rich One]

According to Thomas Piketty, Award Winner , author of best seller Capitalism of the XXI Century.

"For the last 30 years or more Salaries in the CE, Europe don't allow middle class workers to save to build some capital wealth and purchase property.?"

Watch this interesting discussion and interview with Foreign Affairs.

 

[Ceviche]

Most Argentines in 30's or 40's whom I personally know, that "own" high end properties inherited at least 1 property from their grand parents or gifted by their parents.

 

[steveinbsas]

I'm just wondering why you believe that the time to invest in CABA is now.

If you don´t mind, I´d like to answer this question with a question:

How could anyone who recently bought property, perhaps a galpon and not an apartment, located just outside of CABA, possibly believe otherwise?

Will a default have any negative affect on real estate values?

I believe a/the default would/will affect real real estate values if it results in anther serious devaluation of the peso and Argentine's are less able than ever to buy dollars which, in almost all cases, have been/still are essential to complete a real estate purchase.

Even if the government doesn't seize dollars in Argentine bank accounts and convert them to pesos, most Argenntines will be hard pressed to acquire enough USD in the future to buy properties. That leaves wealthy Argentine and foreigner buyers.

Just as an investment, do you see any other real estate markets within Argentina that have a lot of growth potential?

I don't see "a lot of growth potential" in any real estate markets within Argentina in the near future, certainly not in the next few years. Even if there is a massive devaluation of the peso, I wonder how many foreigners are going to snap up the bargains the way they did in 2001 and the five years that followed.

Few foreigners back then knew little about the crisis (and cared even less). Most were happy to find a great deal and at least two I know of were even happier if they could find a fledgling real estate agent and treat him like their own personal errand boy, paying him as little as possible.

As almost everyone here knows, real estate prices are quoted and paid in dollars, but the price on the escrutura will be expressed in pesos. Even if there is NO dollar inflation, a devaluation of the peso will result in a paper profit that will be taxed at the rate of 15% when the property is sold.

As always, I suggest people buy based on need, not greed. Even if you are "ready" to buy now, I suggest waiting at least three (if not six) months. If, for no other reason, until the threat (or the reality) of the coronavirus has come and (hopefully) passed.

For now, there's noting wrong with continuing to search for a great deal, at least online and even in person, until it gets too dangerous to do so, and that could happen in the next 30 days. If the covid-19 comes to CABA, the best way to minimize thee carnage will be to lock down the city (and it's environs) until the threat has passed.

PS: In my opinion, buying a somewhat isolated but also relatively safe property to sit out the coronaviurs epidemic if/when it sweeps through Argentina would have been a good idea, but it's probably already too late to do that. By the time you could find a property and close the sale, the country could be in a state of panic that would make a default or devaluation seem trivial.

So all that being said, I think this could be the worst time in the past 20 years to buy a property in Argentina unless you find something that is obviously under priced, plan to live in it, and would be (not just feel) relatively safe doing so, and could close on it in the next two weeks.

PS2: In 2006, two weeks to the day after seeing the apartment I bought in Recoleta for the first time, I had the keys in hand, so buying property in Argentina is not "always slow and difficult" (as one member who seems to know everything recently posted).