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What are hidden in the properties that are rented with publications that say “check price”
November 13, 2023The new rental law does not allow listing properties in dollars and owners manage to find a shortcut: what does “check price” mean?
Owners and real estate agencies put "check price" on the portals because rentals cannot be published in dollars and so that prices in pesos do not become outdated.
Ayear ago, the tenant looking to rent an apartment had thousands of options in the city and some were listed in dollars. If we fast forward the movie, by the beginning of October of this year the situation had changed drastically: most of the rentals were published in foreign currency and the few opportunities in pesos lasted less than a day on each portal.
This phenomenon is reflected in the numbers. In the first quarter of 2022, just over two out of every 10 rentals were in dollars. That number grew to a new high in the third quarter of this year and seven out of 10 were converted to US currency . The figures arise from a report released by the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses of the Buenos Aires Government.
However, the new rental law that came into effect on October 18, 2023 prohibits publishing rental notices in a currency other than the Argentine peso. This caused an exodus of publications and the supply on several portals fell significantly. “As the rule prohibits offering and making rentals in dollars, last week there was an exodus of publications on real estate portals ,” says Verónica Balayan, owner of Maure Inmobiliaria, a fact that makes sense when you consider that between 60% and 70 % of the offer published in Zonaprop was in dollars . A week after the sanction of the new rule, the rental offer on the portal of the Unique College of Real Estate Brokers of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CUCICBA) fell 44%. The same trend was replicated on other portals:
- Zonaprop -8%
- Argenprop -6%
- Free Market -13%
- Cabaprop -44%
How do owners offer rent in dollars?
But landlords found a shortcut to list their rental properties and still list them in dollars. “Many users decided to remove the publication price that was in dollars and now they say 'check price ',” says the market specialist.
“This way it takes me much longer to look for a rental because I have to contact one by one so they can tell me the value they want and I can't know if I could pay it or not,” Paula, a tenant of the apartment, says in dialogue with LA NACION . Belgrano neighborhood whose rental contract is about to expire in a few months.
Owners and real estate agencies put "check price" on the portals because rentals cannot be published in dollars and so that prices in pesos do not become outdated.
However, it is the only way for owners to offer their property on a public portal and rent it in dollars. Opting for the currency, in a context of rising inflation, is a way that homeowners use to ensure they are covered from devaluation and do not lose profitability for the duration of the contract.
Those owners who still bet on the peso and also want to resist devaluation also lean towards the mystery behind the “check price” to attract inquiries and not have to permanently update the value . The tenants quickly became aware of the strategy and were quick to express their frustration on social media. “In another chapter of looking for an apartment in this country, we went from renting in dollars to 'check price',” writes Marisol (@pperezmarisol) on her X account (former Twitter).
“Today searching for rent is: 70% of the properties with the legend 'Check price '”, publishes Gonzalo (@gonsnow), and adds: “Of the 10 I asked, 7 told me about a quarterly or four-monthly adjustment, using the CPI index.”
Tenants, then, face outrageous increases in the owners' attempt not to be left behind. "In the third quarter, an increase was observed in the published price per square meter for rental of used apartments, which averaged 204.8 % for one-room apartments, 212.5% for two-room apartments and 193.0% for three-room units ,” the report observes.
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