Good Time To Buy Property In Ba?

[Fettucini]

Wondering what people think will happen to property prices in the coming years and if you think it's a good time to buy now.
I'm thinking it could be a good time to buy as the economy looks like it could get a lot stronger in the next few years with the current government, now they're finally attracting investment for some of the unexplored potential of the country. Plus inflation seems to be going down as planned (although the recession i'm sure has something to do with this).
I assume the strengthening economy will start to bring cheaper credit for locals buying property, adding to the upward trend on prices in the coming years..
The negative thing though is the cost of sending money into the country which is very high right now, about 5% ! About the highest i've seen it in the last ten years.

 

[nikad]

Wondering what people think will happen to property prices in the coming years and if you think it's a good time to buy now.
I'm thinking it could be a good time to buy as the economy looks like it could get a lot stronger in the next few years with the current government, now they're finally attracting investment for some of the unexplored potential of the country. Plus inflation seems to be going down as planned (although the recession i'm sure has something to do with this).
I assume the strengthening economy will start to bring cheaper credit for locals buying property, adding to the upward trend on prices in the coming years..
The negative thing though is the cost of sending money into the country which is very high right now, about 5% ! About the highest i've seen it in the last ten years.

You pay 5% if you bring it though a financiera or cueva. If you are en blanco an bring money through a bank you pay 0.3% on average....

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

Bad time imo. Peso is very strong now and though properties are denominated dollars the strong peso means the market is probably valued higher than it should be.

 

[Falcon]

Interesting question...I'm now looking for 3abm apartments in BA, but it difficult to found something in entry level with good location, price and cost of service. Prices are so high for 40 years old buildings, many new buildings stars over 200k....I think this a little bit expensive, but prices will rise anyway.

 

[garryl]

Always a good time if money is not a problem. I think it's hard for price to be much higher or lower.
If you shop around hard, you can find a nicer apt with reasonable price. It's better than betting on the market.

 

[Fettucini]

Bad time imo. Peso is very strong now and though properties are denominated dollars the strong peso means the market is probably valued higher than it should be.

The peso is strong, but at the same time I think with the country having been in a bit of a recession the last 6 months sellers might accept fairly big discounts off asking prices. Property prices do seem fairly high compared to a few years ago, but i can't really see them falling in the near future. To me they'll start to go up again if anything. Prices are still fairly low when compared to other big cities in the world.

 

[garryl]

Everything in Buenos Aires is expensive, except the real estate price. It's opposite in China. Chinese government, like Argentine government, printed too much money, But they direct all the dinero to real estate. Average apartment of 100 sm in Beijing/Shanghai is selling at 2-3 million DOLLARS, and they think that's normal. There was a time that Brazilians think their real estate should be as expensive as in New York, that did not take long before the all thing collapsed.

 

[ElQueso]

The peso is strong, but at the same time I think with the country having been in a bit of a recession the last 6 months sellers might accept fairly big discounts off asking prices. Property prices do seem fairly high compared to a few years ago, but i can't really see them falling in the near future. To me they'll start to go up again if anything. Prices are still fairly low when compared to other big cities in the world.

I think you might be missing an important part of Porteño psychology (may be the same in all of Argentina, just that the majority of my 10 years has been here in BA) with the part that I bolded. In my experience Porteños don't lower prices, at least with real estate (which is their investment vehicle of preference) for anything but the most dire of emergencies, and are therefor much more likely to stubbornly keep a price high than to lower it. Individual cases will vary, of course, and you may have more desperate cases now than a year ago, but the height of the economic woes this time hasn't come near to how things were in 2002 or so, therefore not as big of an emergency to more people. They are used to dealing with economic woes and somehow things are survivable for so many people, up to now at least.

I'm sure that there are some good deals somewhere out there. But if they are really good deals, they will go quickly I'd bet. Many people looking out for good deals right now, is my thought, particularly with the invitation of repatriation of money at a good rate. But not as many people needing to give up the ghost and sell at a big discount just to make some cash.

 

[Fettucini]

I think you might be missing an important part of Porteño psychology (may be the same in all of Argentina, just that the majority of my 10 years has been here in BA) with the part that I bolded. In my experience Porteños don't lower prices, at least with real estate (which is their investment vehicle of preference) for anything but the most dire of emergencies, and are therefor much more likely to stubbornly keep a price high than to lower it. Individual cases will vary, of course, and you may have more desperate cases now than a year ago, but the height of the economic woes this time hasn't come near to how things were in 2002 or so, therefore not as big of an emergency to more people. They are used to dealing with economic woes and somehow things are survivable for so many people, up to now at least.

I'm sure that there are some good deals somewhere out there. But if they are really good deals, they will go quickly I'd bet. Many people looking out for good deals right now, is my thought, particularly with the invitation of repatriation of money at a good rate. But not as many people needing to give up the ghost and sell at a big discount just to make some cash.

Yeah i agree i wouldn't expect the recession to make a huge difference on property price now, but taking into assumption that sellers here normally publish a price that gives a good margin for a lower offer, might be able to push that to 15 - 20%. Still expensive though comparing to when i bought my house back in 2008!

 

[garryl]

Yeah i agree i wouldn't expect the recession to make a huge difference on property price now, but taking into assumption that sellers here normally publish a price that gives a good margin for a lower offer, might be able to push that to 15 - 20%. Still expensive though comparing to when i bought my house back in 2008!

20% ? Good luck on that. Something could be wrong with the apartment if you get 20% off. Unlike Californian sellers, Argentine sellers do not need to disclosure the factors that affect the value of the real estate. IN California, buyer has 4 year to sue the seller if seller does not make proper disclosure. When I was buying the apartment here, the seller always showed me in the late afternoon after their work. After I bought the apartment, I realized there was a school on the other side of the tall wall. In US, I would have sued the hell of the seller and get compensated.