Most were all-cash purchases, even though the developer, Florida East Coast Realty, has offered to finance up to 65 percent of the purchases. At Opera Tower, at 1750 North Bayshore Drive, half of the 30 apartments sold in the past month were bought by Argentines, Ms. So they are willing to risk their savings on Miami real estate instead. “Argentines don’t want any more Argentine risk,” Mr. There are few profitable investments left in the country, said Eduardo Blasco, a financial consultant in Buenos Aires.Īrgentines are buying foreign properties not only to park their savings but also to make extra income through rentals. Kirchner’s government has chosen to clamp down on capital flight by whatever means possible.īanks in Argentina are lending at rates some 10 percent under the inflation rate, economists say. The government has refused to take on more debt, to rapidly devalue the peso, or to reduce spending, which it needs to sustain programs for the poor and working class that make up its voter base. The country has had limited access to international credit markets, owing to its inability to win back the confidence of global investors after its $100 billion default in 2001. What’s driving all this? Argentina has struggled to preserve its hard-currency reserves in the Central Bank and sustain a trade surplus. The government began restricting access to dollars last November, days after Ms. But in Argentina, a weakening peso and 25 percent inflation, economists say, have spurred many affluent Argentines to move their money into American real estate by expensive and sometimes illegal means. In the past few months, Argentines have quietly passed Brazilians to become the most active group from Latin America buying Miami real estate, according to Millie Sanchez, executive vice president of development marketing for Douglas Elliman Florida.īrazil’s demotion from the top spot likely has something to do with the weakening of its currency, the real, versus the dollar in recent months. The fact that the buyers signed the contracts without ever flying to Miami to see the building - Opera Tower - speaks volumes about how eager, and desperate, Argentines have been to direct their money out of their country and into real estate in Miami and New York. He returned to Florida a few days later with four signed contracts from Argentines for apartments in a 60-story tower in downtown Miami. IN early August, Jorge Sanchez, a broker with Douglas Elliman, flew to Buenos Aires to sell some Miami real estate.

Opera tower apartments for sale