I am traumatized every time I go to the supermarket

[Lanick]

I was thinking about this thread last week, funny enough. A young woman delivering the mail told me about her 6 year stint working in Spain. She said the housing was so expensive that she had to rent a room in a shared house the entire time. 6 years, couldn't even get a studio apartment. Which is baffling when I consider that in the 3 years I've been down here, I haven't met a single working individual who rents a room. And it's not because of family, because Neuquen is full of transplants from other Provincias. But let's get back to those cheap European produce prices, what a bargain!

I live in Spain. I Spain right at that moment. You’re comparing an illegal resident in Spain to an Argentine in Argentina. In Alicante area for example; you can rent a 1 bed flat for €500. In Barcelona or Madrid this is not possible but these cities have different housing dynamics due to over tourism. Even local Spanish are suffering on that issue. So your comparison is apples to shoelaces!

 

[Blueish]

I live in Spain. I Spain right at that moment. You’re comparing an illegal resident in Spain to an Argentine in Argentina. In Alicante area for example; you can rent a 1 bed flat for €500. In Barcelona or Madrid this is not possible but these cities have different housing dynamics due to over tourism. Even local Spanish are suffering on that issue. So your comparison is apples to shoelaces!

I am Spanish myself, and there are countries in the world where people have office jobs with average salaries yet they still share with random people until they are almost 40, especially if they are single (that's the price you pay for being single ) , I've lived in London and that has been the case for many decades. Spain has unfortunately caught up with that (Barcelona and Madrid and more cities will fall) , not necessarily due to overtourism, but due to artificially constrained housing stock and various other economic factors. The way the economy is planned , this is by design as housing prices is something that must go up because there are many people in power (entire banks, politicians etc) whose interest is to make profit from property. This is not very common in Argentina, Brasil or other countries in South America. I've also lived in Eastern Europe, and a normal person with a very humble job can afford to rent a normal 1bed appartment in a capital (Belgrade, Bucharest). I always thought that sharing a room is something you can do for a couple of years (student years, 1 year of work life), not a couple of decades.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

I was thinking about this thread last week, funny enough. A young woman delivering the mail told me about her 6 year stint working in Spain. She said the housing was so expensive that she had to rent a room in a shared house the entire time. 6 years, couldn't even get a studio apartment. Which is baffling when I consider that in the 3 years I've been down here, I haven't met a single working individual who rents a room. And it's not because of family, because Neuquen is full of transplants from other Provincias. But let's get back to those cheap European produce prices, what a bargain!

No, what is baffling is your baffling method of scientific survey methods. It baffles me.

 

[wineguy999]

I was thinking about this thread last week, funny enough. A young woman delivering the mail told me about her 6 year stint working in Spain. She said the housing was so expensive that she had to rent a room in a shared house the entire time. 6 years, couldn't even get a studio apartment. Which is baffling when I consider that in the 3 years I've been down here, I haven't met a single working individual who rents a room. And it's not because of family, because Neuquen is full of transplants from other Provincias. But let's get back to those cheap European produce prices, what a bargain!

A cursory check on Idealista shows 19 pages of apartments under 1K in Madrid, starting at €500. Methinks there's more to her story.

 

[pinkdalia]

Howdy Ceteris,

I apologize for the hostility. It gets the best of me sometimes.

You are correct, Argentina has an affordability problem. However, are we certain France doesn't have an affordability problem as well?

On the surface it may be puzzling that yogurt in both France and Argentina cost the same if in fact French dairy factories are paying their workers an average higher wage. This should correspond to higher yogurt prices in France or, conversely, lower yogurt prices here, right?

If I had to guess, it has to do with the distribution of taxes between both countries. France is generally known to have somewhat higher taxes than Argentina; however, as I understand, the bulk of their taxes are on wage earnings. This is because France has a high formal labor market.

Argentina on the other hand has a very high informal labor market, which means they have placed the majority of the tax burden on businesses instead.

The result is that yogurt in France is the same price as Argentina.

You could say that wages are higher in France and therefore it's more affordable. But costs are higher too in France. Here's a side by side comparison:

View attachment 10925

I'm not sure what to make of that last line. We would have to break down the metrics that the website uses to determine that.

This is why I chose Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was living in central USA checking these numbers on Numbeo before I left. Today, I can walk 1 block, ask for 2 croissants, be charged 2500 pesos, and be given a third just because. I love it here. I would never live in Europe. JMHO.

 

[Rich One]

This is why I chose Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was living in central USA checking these numbers on Numbeo before I left. Today, I can walk 1 block, ask for 2 croissants, be charged 2500 pesos, and be given a third just because. I love it here. I would never live in Europe. JMHO.

Please what area are you in? 2 croissants for 2500 pesos plus a third free....
If you are talking of Media lunas maybe possible even some chains in Recoleta have media lunas for under 1000 pesos. Croissants much higher. Maybe other factors may can make a difference.....!

 

[LuckyLuke]

A cursory check on Idealista shows 19 pages of apartments under 1K in Madrid, starting at €500. Methinks there's more to her story.

I don't think there's more to her story.

Idealista shows there are only 488 (non-seasonal) apartments available for €1000 or less in a community where the median take home pay is €1,700 – €1,900....for a population of 3.4 million people. That's 1 affordable apartment per 7,377 residents.

Last I checked in May, Bumeran has the average salary in CABA per sector is $1.4M to $1.6M (excluding Mineria/Petroleo).

CABA had 2,130, 1 bedroom apartments under ARS $600,000 available for rent per Zonaprop.

With a population fo 3.6 million people, that's 1 affordable apartment for every 1,633 residents.

CABA has 4.5x greater supply of affordable housing than Madrid.

 

[Lanick]

A cursory check on Idealista shows 19 pages of apartments under 1K in Madrid, starting at €500. Methinks there's more to her story.

Good point. There’s more to her story. Like almost all Argentines here, apart from the ones in corporate world, she must be working under the table getting paid in cash. With no credit score, no job contract nobody will rent her a property. Flat sharing is her only option. Your research on idealista confirms that.

 

[TWB103]

I am Spanish myself, and there are countries in the world where people have office jobs with average salaries yet they still share with random people until they are almost 40, especially if they are single (that's the price you pay for being single ) , I've lived in London and that has been the case for many decades. Spain has unfortunately caught up with that (Barcelona and Madrid and more cities will fall) , not necessarily due to overtourism, but due to artificially constrained housing stock and various other economic factors. The way the economy is planned , this is by design as housing prices is something that must go up because there are many people in power (entire banks, politicians etc) whose interest is to make profit from property. This is not very common in Argentina, Brasil or other countries in South America. I've also lived in Eastern Europe, and a normal person with a very humble job can afford to rent a normal 1bed appartment in a capital (Belgrade, Bucharest). I always thought that sharing a room is something you can do for a couple of years (student years, 1 year of work life), not a couple of decades.

While there might be forces restricting building new homes there is immense pressure on the housing and terrain market due to ever increasing tourism and immigration. It also takes time to build new homes/apartments.