It's Too Expensive Here!

[Noesdeayer]

Ceviche:
Wrong.
Only Argentines of the monied strata have owned and invested in real estate -Ladrillos or bricks for decades
Rents are low because of inflation and the fact the 50% of middle and low income Argentines only earn about AR$ 8 or 9k and can't afford high rents.
It is not the Argentines don't take mortgages.The fact is that mortgages have not been available due to high inflation.El Banco Nacional Hipotecario even closed.
I count myself extremely lucky to have gotten a mortgage as late as 1999 under Carlitos Menem's dollar peg.However,mortgages have become available agaain under the new gov't and appear to be accessible for working Argentines..

 

[garryl]

Ceviche:
Wrong.
Only Argentines of the monied strata have owned and invested in real estate -Ladrillos or bricks for decades
Rents are low because of inflation and the fact the 50% of middle and low income Argentines only earn about AR$ 8 or 9k and can't afford high rents.
It is not the Argentines don't take mortgages.The fact is that mortgages have not been available due to high inflation.El Banco Nacional Hipotecario even closed.
I count myself extremely lucky to have gotten a mortgage as late as 1999 under Carlitos Menem's dollar peg.However,mortgages have become available agaain under the new gov't and appear to be accessible for working Argentines..

That's what people say: mortgage is available again. That will push real estate higher

 

[Ceviche]

That's what people say: mortgage is available again.

Yes, mortgages are available again. Especially the govt banks are pushing it

 

[Ceviche]

Wrong.

Rent is low because Argies own and invest in real estate. Most of them own apartments. Many people of 29-32 age group I know, live alone in a apartment owner by their parents. So basically Argies dont rent so much.

Rent is also low because traditionally Argies dont take mortgages.

And the rent prices would be even lower if it was not the 'garantia' factor which would knock out the airbnb kind of apartments from the market for long term tourists here.

Ceviche:
Wrong.
Only Argentines of the monied strata have owned and invested in real estate -Ladrillos or bricks for decades
Rents are low because of inflation and the fact the 50% of middle and low income Argentines only earn about AR$ 8 or 9k and can't afford high rents.
It is not the Argentines don't take mortgages.The fact is that mortgages have not been available due to high inflation.El Banco Nacional Hipotecario even closed.

Disagree.

You may be living here for 40 yrs but it doesn't necessarily mean, you know all the answers.

 

[Noesdeayer]

garryl:
When you mentioned "poor central american cities",what cities were you referrring to?
I know Costa Rica and Panama and I wouldn't call their cities poor exactly.

 

[Ries]

according to the info I can find online, home ownership in Argentina, both overall and in Capital, is higher than home ownership in either the USA or the UK.

the facts seem to suggest that 67% nationally own their own homes.

this, to me, affects the rental market.
of course, the denomination of real estate in dollars rather than pesos, the lack of affordable, reasonable interest rate mortgages, and the long felt belief that real estate is one of the safest places to park your money all contribute too.

Like everything in Argentina, its complicated.

 

[Noesdeayer]

Reis:
I would definitely think that the info 67% home ownership info would be correct.and higher than home ownership in the USA or the UK.This is due to several factors and had both good and bad effects on Argentina's culture and economy.
In the 1st or 2nd Peron gov't in spite of incipient inflation they initiated strict rent control measures which stopped new app't construction dead.Peron used to say,"Los salarios van por la escalera y los precios toman el ascensor".
.Argentines who were able to then began wisely investing in" bricks".The Argie dream ever since has been."Lecho y techo"--"A bed and a roof".It is complicated and even made more so by Peronist economics.One bad effect has been that once they build their dream house which are many times quite nice,they do not want to move.Even,to another city in Argentina.In the '80s and 90's clients of mine like Chase Bank and Exxon Mobile had extreme difficulty in getting employees to move even to Tucuman,for example further centralizing everything in BA.
Hopefully,this bad dream could be changing into a "sueño compartido" soon with lower inflation and the new mortgage requirements where monthly payments can not exceed a certain % of the combined family income.
Some changes also seem to be underway to make the UBA more cost and time effective But this is a topic for another day. As a US resident who has spent one half of my life here,I am anxious to see this type of progress.However,my long experience here has convibced me that it will not happen under another Peronist "rake off" gov't but with free market economics,

 

[ElQueso]

One thing I would add about lower income Argentinos owning their own home - I know people who save to buy a piece of property. Then they save to lay the bricks for a foundation. Then they save to raise some walls. Then they save to put a roof on. Then they save to close it all up, then to finish it, etc. This may take several years. And obviously, it's not done in apartment buildings and probably not too much in the city at all. But an awful lot of Argentinos that I've known who live outside the city manage to own their own property like this.

 

[semigoodlookin]

One thing I would add about lower income Argentinos owning their own home - I know people who save to buy a piece of property. Then they save to lay the bricks for a foundation. Then they save to raise some walls. Then they save to put a roof on. Then they save to close it all up, then to finish it, etc. This may take several years. And obviously, it's not done in apartment buildings and probably not too much in the city at all. But an awful lot of Argentinos that I've known who live outside the city manage to own their own property like this.

There's a house opposite me that is like this. I have been here five years and its been in a permanent state of construction during that time, interspersed with months of inactivity. I often see it and think ah its been sold or abandoned, but then a couple of weeks later there will be a new wall, or a ceiling for the first floor has gone up. It has taken that five years to go from a single floor with no roof to a completely closed house minus windows and still with exposed walls. Perhaps in the next five years they can finish it.

They are playing the long game for sure, but even if it takes ten years it is better than a mortgage over 25 years or whatever, I guess. I don't know, but either way they own it and one day it will be a house.

 

[garryl]

garryl:
When you mentioned "poor central american cities",what cities were you referrring to?
I know Costa Rica and Panama and I wouldn't call their cities poor exactly.

Last year I had a tenant from Honduras, she is from a city that has the highest murder rate in her country(and central america). She pays $1200 for a one bedroom in Recoleta, she thought 1200 was a good deal, that's how much she has to pay in her country for an apt like that, she is not from a rich family or anything.