Is BA real estate selling? If so, where and how much?

[perry]

Yes they don't have a lot "lying around in pesos" because they get paid in pesos and then they have to go BUY dollars. People here do not get paid in USD, and they certainly aren't making a lot of money on foreign stock markets these days. The change in the exchange rate is going to kill a lot of people's possibilities of buying, they need that many more months of salary to be able to get the cash together. People here do not invest in the stock market, they make their money from properties, businesses, or their own salary -- almost all of which comes in in pesos, not USD.
Furthermore people rarely move houses just to buy another place of equal value, they usually buy something larger and more expensive, and they have to compensate for that margin with their own money.

I have never said that all sales were due to selling other property but in 30 percent of transactions this is the fact. Regarding Pesos and dollars I have also never said that peoples expectations of purchasing have been diminished . Of course if your value of your money goes down there are less buyers but saying that this is not uniform in all neighbourhoods and especially in then wealthier areas of the Capital the dollar is king.

What I do know is that noone keeps hundreds of thousand of pesos waiting to buy property most people change money asap to protect their funds from any devaluation .

Another point that many people have not pointed out is that the wealthy class of Argentina are more cash rich than most of their european counterparts . They also own more land and properties than most of their european counterparts . 90 percent of all purchases are done in cash with no credit which I believe to be the highest in the world. There is a lot of money In Argentina and it is local.

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

I would definitely rather have the cash. We aren't talking about having it invested, or where one keeps it, just whether or not it's cash or property anywhere. Cash unless the value of the dollar drops beyond being useful to purchase goods and services, which I don't foresee, is there for me to spend on what I need, when I need it. A 2 br apt anywhere is subject the market - and - the availability of cash of for buyers to purchase it. I can't eat an apartment, but I can buy groceries with $150K...

 

[Stanexpat]

My guess trying to sell today is a hard slog. Fewer foreign buyers, low affordability for the locals, units bought as an investment for tourist trade harder to fill.

 

[perry]

My guess trying to sell today is a hard slog. Fewer foreign buyers, low affordability for the locals, units bought as an investment for tourist trade harder to fill.

Yes of course its more difficult to sell in a worldwide recession but your points are Stan that Argentina is a basket case or hopefully Argentina will collapse financially so you can rub your hands in glee and say to all of us in Buenos Aires I told you so.

No Stanexpat life aint bad for most of us who call Buenos Aires and Argentina home . We in the main love it here and aint going to turn our backs on this country crisis or not. Most here who have lived all there lives find this current period stable compared to past crisises . Argentina has lived through worst periods and have bounced back with vigor in a very short time . The reasons are easy to understand in one of the worlds most agriculturaly rich lands and with some of the best scenery to boot tourism will always return.

I believe that Argentina will be less affected than the USA and also Europe from this crisis due to its limited exposure to the world . This time our isolation will pay dividends.

 

[steveinbsas]

My guess trying to sell today is a hard slog. Fewer foreign buyers, low affordability for the locals, units bought as an investment for tourist trade harder to fill.

...but a "unit" bought as a place to live and wait out the world wide economic "crisis" brought on by the arrogant and too big to fail "we can spend our way back to prosperity" USA, priceless.

 

[soulskier]

Stanley, I have bought and sold property in 3 provinces to date, all for a tidy profit. Do you think I am lucky?

 

[Stanexpat]

Stanley, I have bought and sold property in 3 provinces to date, all for a tidy profit. Do you think I am lucky?

No I don't think you are lucky, but market conditions can change. Conditions there are a lot less favorable than a year or two ago. This shouldn't be a surprise given whats going on in the world. The severity of the correction underway there will depend on a lot of factors.

Pericles has reminded us that prices bounced back quickly after the 2001 crisis. The depth of the current correction in real estate prices may be mild. However if economic conditions continue to worsen or if there is another debt default than the correction could be severe. Conditions for a quick recovery may also be less favorable than in 2001.

 

[soulskier]

Nice answer, are you in politics, jaja?

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

Listen guys, if someone say's real estate is correcting, right or wrong, that isn't an insult or (Peri) a wish for bad things to befall you. Keep your panties on.

We all hope that things turn around well everywhere. Argentina is experiencing economic change and not for the better right now. That is simply true. A deep decline here would be good in some ways and terrible in others. It would bring lower costs and more tourists but it would also inflict terrible struggles on the poorest of the poor, as it always does. Still, pretending it can't or wont happen is silly. Of course Argentines have survived their financial disasters, so have we, so have the Brits, so have the Russians, oh wait, I guess so has everyone. No important country has ever ceased to exist because of financial crisis, so we'll all make it through, but that doesn't mean we'll be rich when it's over.

The best advice any one ever gave me about real estate was to buy a home I liked and could live in at a price I could afford to pay and to count myself lucky if it made money. Real estate as an investment is always a gamble because the world changes. It can be great, but so can roulette. It can also crash. I believe that if you have nice home in a decent area you'll be able to sell it at a fair price as long as people have money to spend on homes. If they don't, then selling your home might be the least of your concerns.

 

[soulskier]

Just to stay on HYT theme, I have found that doing due dillegence and studying the market will greatly increase the odds of a real estate investment becoming a profitable.