Why is there a boom of interest in Buenos Aires’ largest apartments?

*Belén Escobar

While the price of rents rises in the face of a demand that does not find enough supply in the City of Buenos Aires (CABA), the sale and purchase of properties are shaping up to go through another year with a muted scenario while owners wait for a rebound in prices, depressed since 2019 and aggravated by the pandemic.

However, real estate agents detect a boom in searches for the capital’s largest apartments.

Why is it happening?

With only 1,848 acts, January was 40% below the average of the historical series of deeds, despite registering a year-on-year increase of 33.4%, according to Buenos Aires Notary Association data.

At the same time, the association’s report stated that, compared to last December, a month that had been very good, the number of deeds fell by 56%.

PRICES, IN A DOWNWARD TREND

According to Reporte Inmobiliario, “the market is moving due to the drop in property prices in dollars that has accumulated in the last four years”, equivalent to 40%.

In this sense, they assured that, at present, only “the banknote saver who needs a property and sees the opportunity” is buying.

Therefore, they considered that if the fall had not occurred, the sector would perceive “the lowest figures of all history”.

APARTMENTS FOR SALE IN CABA

Mercado Libre Inmuebles told Bloomberg Línea that, through the data of the publications and the number of visits, it is possible to observe behavioral trends and consumer interest.

In this way, they pointed out that publications for the sale of two-room apartments are in the first place, in second place are those of three rooms, while the third place is for one-room apartments.

The platform also analyzed that, between January 2022 and January 2023, supply and demand had almost no variations.

The result is that 32% of the total number of visits to the publications of apartments for sale in CABA correspond to two-room properties and the same percentage to three-room properties.

Meanwhile, 19% are interested in four or more rooms and 17% in one-bedrooms.

The demand for one-room apartments fell slightly (1%), while the interest that grew the most was in publications of three-room apartments.

If we analyze the publications of apartments by covered surface, 90% of the published properties of less than 30 square meters are of the one-bedroom type, and that percentage drops to 60% for the properties published in the one-bedroom category, which are between 30 and 40 square meters.

CHANGING TRENDS

Zonaprop agrees that the most demanded properties are two and three-room apartments and attributed this behavior to two key factors.

On the one hand, after going through the pandemic, the public is looking for more space; on the other hand, prices are dropping.

They state that, due to the drop in prices, buyers can currently acquire three-room properties for the price that a two-room apartment used to cost.

*Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism (Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora). Specialized in economy and finance. She was a journalist for the agency Noticias Argentinas (NA) and a Canal de la Ciudad columnist. She also collaborated with the iProfesional portal.