Have rents gone down due to recession?

[nikad]

yw, I will go and do this tomorrow ( geez, I bet there will be lots of people, but oh well! ) Hopefully they won´t make this outrageous increments legal
nik

 

[jp]

Not sure about short term rents. They will be more vulnerable if there is a general drop in tourism and competition drives down the prices, but I suspect thats unlikely to happen. People keep coming...

Long term rents generally go up with the rate of inflation. I'm due to pay about 20% more next year than I did last year on my 2 year contract. Long term rents are very reasonable, but you need a guarantor.

 

[MrBart]

Thanks for the replies.

I plan on renting a room in a shared apartment in Sal Telmo so hopefully the prices for sharing apartments haven't gone up too much.

 

[Bairesgirl]

From what I was told the other day it would seem this process is starting already....

This person said that in the market there are a lot more rentals - that most people are preferring to rent out to foreigners in uS$
rather than locals in Ar pesos

So there´s more competition.....prices should be able to be negotiated down a bit .......

Probably not in the case of an existing landlord who feels he has a right to raise the rent, but with new rentals it should be the case..

The person told me that the market is quieter now....

I strongly believe that as more apartments are put out for rent ( as sales are scarce ) the prices should drop or at least the conditions will be more favorable to the tenant ( ie, years ago when there was a surplus of apts out for rent, real estate agents would only charge half of what they charge now, landlords would pay the city tax and sometimes wouldn´t be so strict with the garantia issue )
nik

 

[wnewman7]

The eletric bills will not being going down, rather up by a lot and for the long haul. Fact is the government is nearly bankrupt (just look at the privitization of the pension funds last october...needed cash so bad their were willing to push up the soverign debt risk to 2001 levels) and has to start cutting costs fast to avoid defaulting over the next 18 months. They have been subsidising the electricity since the crisis of 2001-2002 and it is simply unsustainable...and really...when you consider that I paid the same electric bill for a studio in manhattan for one month as I did here for a 3 bedroom for 6 months it really is too cheap. I would rather pay a bit more for electric than see A, the government go belly up (again) or B, forcing the electric utilties to be fully nationalized making thus making blackouts and services interruptions the norm, not a once in a while thing...

As far as real estate prices...wait until after March. Everyone is on vacation right now, and the crisis really hasnt arrived here yet. After March when a poor harvest comes in, combined with much lower world commodity prices, we will begin to see a sharp sell-off as people will need to quickly unload assests in search of liquidity. Also, the peso will continue to go down, and significantly, against the dollar as cental bank reserves will be used to pay debt and not maintain the peso. Expect 4-4.5 by year end.

 

[nikad]

The eletric bills will not being going down, rather up by a lot and for the long haul. Fact is the government is nearly bankrupt (just look at the privitization of the pension funds last october...needed cash so bad their were willing to push up the soverign debt risk to 2001 levels) and has to start cutting costs fast to avoid defaulting over the next 18 months. They have been subsidising the electricity since the crisis of 2001-2002 and it is simply unsustainable...and really...when you consider that I paid the same electric bill for a studio in manhattan for one month as I did here for a 3 bedroom for 6 months it really is too cheap. I would rather pay a bit more for electric than see A, the government go belly up (again) or B, forcing the electric utilties to be fully nationalized making thus making blackouts and services interruptions the norm, not a once in a while thing...

As far as real estate prices...wait until after March. Everyone is on vacation right now, and the crisis really hasnt arrived here yet. After March when a poor harvest comes in, combined with much lower world commodity prices, we will begin to see a sharp sell-off as people will need to quickly unload assests in search of liquidity. Also, the peso will continue to go down, and significantly, against the dollar as cental bank reserves will be used to pay debt and not maintain the peso. Expect 4-4.5 by year end.

The raises on the electric bills weren´t done legally ( there wasn´t a public audience ), it is affecting not only residential users but also the industry, building expenses, etc, they will either have to take it back, or nationalize the companies ( which by the way, they never invested what they were supposed to and just took the profits...guess where? yes, out of the country! ) Don´t be fooled: the " private " companies we have nowadays, are very inefficient ( just like the old theys when they were state owned ), there is still a monopoly ( you cannot choose your gas, water, electric or phone providers ). I agree with your second paragraph, are you r comments based on any sources or is it just your point of view?

 

[julieF]

Hello. I have been renting my place to expats for the past 5 years with excellent feedback from pretty much all of my tenants, mostly writers and intellectuals looking for good deals as much they are interested in 1 on 1 relationships with locals.

For the most part I totally agree with you guys: in Argentina not only rent prices are rising fast, everything else is: all of the expenses related with an apartment in the city are 150% higher than the previous 3 years. And l would be very happy to rent my furnished apt in Palermo Soho to a foreigner for what it worth, but the only security I can ask is money, because none of them owns a property in the city to fill the legal request of a regular rent contract as our local laws indicates.

If I can ask to a local to pay for an empty apt 1400 pesos a month for a 2 years contract deal, I can easily ask 2000 pesos a month -to a local with a proper security- for a 1 bedroom FURNISHED apt with a balcony and a cool vista of the city in Palermo for a 2 year contract (all expenses included, cable TV, internet, and even wi-fi). So is not that crazy to expect someone from another country to have all the benefits of a shorter deal for a slightly higher rate.

Plus: I believe the current situation is affecting more locals than foreigners. Is impossible to find a decent empty place to rent in Palermo and Cañitas this days, and foreigners always have the chance to stay in a hotel or even in one of the plenty new hostels in town.

Excuse my poor English. Is not my native language.

Hug, Julie F
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julief/sets/72157606089085168/

 

[sergio]

An Argentine friend is renting to other Argentines. The contract was for a dollar payment. When the lease came up for renewal the value of the peso had dropped substantially and the tenant complained that he could not pay the new price in dollars. My friend and the tenant came to an agreement for a new rent based in pesos. Of course my friend has an international perspective, has travelled a lot and speaks fluent English, so she is not typical of Argentine owners.

 

[nikad]

An Argentine friend is renting to other Argentines. The contract was for a dollar payment. When the lease came up for renewal the value of the peso had dropped substantially and the tenant complained that he could not pay the new price in dollars. My friend and the tenant came to an agreement for a new rent based in pesos. Of course my friend has an international perspective, has travelled a lot and speaks fluent English, so she is not typical of Argentine owners.

A regular rental contract ( 2yrs ) in foreign currency is illegal though.

 

[nikad]

Hello. I have been renting my place to expats for the past 5 years with excellent feedback from pretty much all of my tenants, mostly writers and intellectuals looking for good deals as much they are interested in 1 on 1 relationships with locals.

For the most part I totally agree with you guys: in Argentina not only rent prices are rising fast, everything else is: all of the expenses related with an apartment in the city are 150% higher than the previous 3 years. And l would be very happy to rent my furnished apt in Palermo Soho to a foreigner for what it worth, but the only warrant I can ask is money, because none of them owns a property in the city to fill the legal request of a regular rent contract as our local laws indicates.

If I can ask to a local to pay for an empty apt 1400 pesos a month for a 2 years contract deal, I can easily ask 2000 pesos a month -to a local with a proper warrant- for a 1 bedroom FURNISHED apt with a balcony and a cool vista of the city in Palermo for a 2 year contract (all expenses included, cable TV, internet, and even wi fi). So is not that crazy to expect someone from another country to have all the benefits of a shorter deal for a slightly higher rate.

Plus: I believe the current situation is affecting more locals than foreigners. Is impossible to find a decent empty place to rent in Palermo and Cañitas this days, and foreigners always have the chance to stay in a hotel or even in one of the plenty new hostels in town.

Excuse my shitty english. Is not my native language.

Hug, Julie F
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julief/sets/72157606089085168/

I see everyday more furnished apartments are put up for rent to argentines, I guess there are less tourists coming. On the other hand this crisis is global, so it affects both locals and foreigners equally this time.