Luxury property: Why the rich are looking to Latin America
04.04.2008 - Luxury property: Why the rich are looking to Latin America
Wars, coups and high inflation - can South America be worth the risk?
Wealthy investors seeking safer havens for their capital in these troubled times may not have considered Latin America - until now. With a history of hyper-inflation, coups, dictatorships, corruption, drug gangs and social inequality, it has not been the most obvious place in which to buy property. But the region's growing economies - plus recent political stability - mean that cash-rich investors are snapping up homes there…
Latin America is high on glamour but low on prices - the perfect mix for investors.
ARGENTINA
The peso's devaluation in 2002 ignited a property boom. Investors have been snapping up developments in Buenos Aires (which is currently under blockade by farmers) and ski chalets and country retreats in Patagonia. Property prices in Buenos Aires have risen by 10 to 20 per cent over the past couple of years, Savills says. With the dollar weak and the peso at six to the pound, sums could work in the British buyer's favour.
