HOUSING ACCESS: ARGENTINA IN DATA

The annual amount spent on rent in Argentina that could potentially be converted into residential leasing schemes is close to USD 50.7 billion. It is an enormous figure, and yet it is rarely considered part of the solution to the housing access problem.

One fact that often goes unnoticed is that labor force participation is significantly higher among renters than among homeowners. We are not talking about people outside the productive system, but about people who work, generate income, and still cannot access home ownership.

In 2024, 11,776 mortgages were registered. In 2025, that number rose to 44,000, against more than 500,000 applications submitted. Demand clearly exists and is massive, but effective access remains the exception rather than the rule.

The reasons are well known: failure to meet formal income requirements, the inability to provide the required down payment, and above all, the adjustment mechanism of mortgage loans. In a context of volatility and inflation, mortgages indexed to UVA quickly become impossible to sustain over time.

Argentina is a bi-monetary economy. Although the official currency is the peso, the country has had 22 different currencies throughout its history, including national currencies and provincial quasi-currencies. A century of recurrent devaluations and inflationary crises inevitably led to the organic adoption of the US dollar as a price reference and, above all, as a store of value.

Within this context, the most common way to purchase a property with financing is through pre-construction or off-plan developments. In Argentina, those who access housing this way assume the full risk of a project over which they have no control. They pay high prices per square meter, continue renting while they wait, and in practice finance the developer. This is not an intentional scam, but it is a fragile model, one that breaks down every time the macroeconomic environment enters into crisis.

Residential leasing emerges as a different alternative. Under this model, income is more stable, payments follow more predictable adjustment mechanisms, and the structure is backed by real assets that appreciate year after year, preserving investment value. For investors, returns do not rely solely on the sale of the asset, but on sustained income over time, aligned with a structural need.

At a moment when the global economic map is being redefined, investors are looking at new destinations and new models. Access to housing is one of those areas that demands different solutions.

Argentina does not only need to build more homes.

It needs an efficient structure to access them.

Thinking about housing access from this perspective means stopping treating it as an isolated problem and beginning to understand it as a structural issue. When capital is organized to reduce risk, preserve value, and respond to real needs, more sustainable models emerge over time. It is not only about investing in assets, but about building systems that work even in contexts of uncertainty.