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Properties: November data reflects cooling sales - La Nacion Propiedades
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Propiedades: el dato de noviembre que refleja que las ventas se enfrían
La venta de propiedades pisó el freno: las escrituras en la ciudad de Buenos Aires cayeron por primera vez en 43 meses
www.lanacion.com.ar
December 23, 2025
Property sales hit the brakes: deeds in the city of Buenos Aires fell for the first time in 43 months
By Candela Contreras
November was the worst month of the year in terms of the number of property deeds registered in the city of Buenos Aires.Brian A Jackson - Shutterstock
The current real estate market is increasingly resembling a real-time game of Jenga , where the quest to maintain balance is becoming ever more difficult.
After a brief surge in property deeds in the city , driven mainly by mortgage loans, the anticipated slowdown arrived , and the dynamism of the Buenos Aires real estate market suffered a sharp blow in November : the signing of deeds slowed down, as did transactions with financing.
According to the latest data, real estate transactions in the City of Buenos Aires reached 5,250 in November . This figure represents an 8.8% year-on-year decrease and a 25.2% drop compared to October. This decline interrupts a streak of 43 consecutive months of year-on-year growth.
The Buenos Aires Notary Association had registered 7018 deeds in October, just 0.3% more than in September and 17.2% higher year-on-year, positioning that month as the second best October in almost 30 years.
However, analysts were already warning that these good numbers belonged to a "pivotal period " that reflected "operations initiated in previous months" with lower interest rates and in "pre-election stability".
The total amount involved in property deeds in the city of Buenos Aires in November reached $885,985 million , a 51.5% year-on-year increase . The average transaction value was $168,759,187 (equivalent to US$115,718), a 66.1% increase in pesos and a 16.3% increase in dollars over the year.
Despite the marked slowdown in November, the year-to-date figures remain strong. In the first 11 months of 2025, 13,065 mortgage transactions were recorded in the City of Buenos Aires (CABA) , representing a 238% increase compared to the same period last year. “If we reach a total of approximately 14,000 mortgages in 2025, it would be the second-best year since we began tracking this data in 2009,” stated Magdalena Tato, president of the Buenos Aires City Notary Association, who lamented that “with slightly more active applications, it could have been the best year since we started measuring it in 2009.”
The head of the College insists on the need to "redouble creativity so that access to housing is an opportunity in Argentina and, clearly, a virtuous circle," and proposes measures such as " securitizing mortgages and loans from the well ."
The main reason behind the fall
The key to this November slump lies in the decline in mortgage lending . Mortgages, which had peaked in October with 1,501 formal transactions , were halved in November , reaching only 737 deeds . This represents a 22.4% drop compared to the same month last year. This decrease is significant, especially considering that October had been the "highest month of this mortgage cycle," according to Tato, who at the time celebrated it as the "best mortgage month of this new cycle."The reality behind that “encouraging data” from October , as anticipated, did not directly reflect the rise in bank interest rates. This tightening of conditions was the main trigger for the decline in November.
The "summer" of UVA mortgage lending "ended faster than it began ." November marked a turning point, with disbursements of US$180 million, the lowest figure of the year and a 51% drop compared to the US$372 million of October, a level that returns the market to parameters similar to November of the previous year.
“High interest rates, the depletion of loan application stocks, the withdrawal of many banks, and the elections explain the situation of a market that is on pause, waiting for the improved macroeconomic outlook to be reflected in interest rates and funding capacity,” stated Federico González Rouco, an economist at Empiria. The consulting firm, headed by Hernán Lacunza, had already predicted the data reflected in November .
After months in which UVAs reignited expectations and boosted property prices that had been lagging, November marked a turning point : US$180 million was disbursed , the lowest figure of the year and a 51% drop compared to October (when it had been US$372 million).
The penultimate month of the year also reveals a peculiar phenomenon: the average interest rate agreed upon was 5.9% , the lowest since April. This figure can only be explained by the increased participation of Banco Nación , which is currently supporting the market. The average loan term, however, continues to lengthen: 25.2 years , a way to lower the initial payment and make the transaction more affordable.
The surge generated in September and October, attributed to the "rush to close loans before the elections," is no longer present. Magdalena Tato, in her analysis of the November data, emphasized that while the year is on track to "close close to 70,000 transactions, which would place it among the top six best since we began tracking the series in 1998," the decline in mortgages is a clear indicator: "The fact that these mortgages have slowed down clearly explains that the multiplier effect (where other sales are generated) tends to slow down ."
The market slowdown is also reflected in prices . While in previous months 90% of Buenos Aires neighborhoods showed rising prices, November reveals a divided picture, with 50% showing increases and the remaining 40% experiencing decreases, according to the real estate platform Zonaprop.
Thus, the market enters a phase of "pause," as several analysts anticipate. Although an abrupt "collapse" similar to that of 2018 is not projected, " the rate is excluding people, but at a slower pace ," warns González Rouco. The reactivation will depend on macroeconomic improvement , wage increases, and more favorable mortgage conditions, since "with rates above 12%, fewer and fewer people can access credit to buy a home."
The expectation of closing 2025 " close to 70,000 transactions ," a record that would position it as one of the best in the historical series, does not disguise the concern about the slowdown that mortgage credit put on the market in the last stretch of the year .
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