The Real Estate Market

Residential Market

RESIDENTAL REAL ESTATE

Today the market has clearly bottomed out. We are currently experiencing closings approximately 15 to 30% down from December 2001 figures in the residential sector and the gap is steadily closing. We are still, though, far away from 1997 highs. Opportunities are seen in prime downtown apartments, which are ideally suited for short-term rentals to incoming tourists. Tourism is flourishing in Argentina as a result of the 70% devaluation noted earlier in this report. The latter has made visiting Argentina, a very affordable experience. In addition, Argentines are no longer vacationing abroad because of increased costs in peso terms. This has led them to flock to classic locations in the country such as Bariloche, Villa la Angostura and San Martin de los Andes in the Patagonia region. There is an increasing demand for full-time and seasonal housing to accommodate both of the noted markets and eastern beach locations.