Uruguay Coastal Properties

Last week we introduced Uruguay Property Tour, six properties cooperatively marketed by a group of developers:

Sugar Loaf Ocean Club and Spa in Piriapolis

The Alexander, Tiburon, and Blue Blue projects in Punta del Este

Laguna Tranquila in La Paloma, Rocha.

While real estate tours are not unique, the approach by this group is. In addition to visiting all six projects, included is an all-inclusive accommodation, food and entertainment package. Here are a few highlights:

- Complete 7-night, 6-day guided tour of Piriapolis, Punta del Este, La Barra, Jose Ignacio, La Pedrera and La Paloma.

- Opportunity to purchase in six luxury developments on the coast

- Full range of cultural activities from wine tasting to tango!

- Fine cuisine; handmade pastas and world-famous beef

- Personal tour-guide with all local transportation provided

- Free attorney consultation on living and investing in Uruguay

- Professional tour-guide.

Includes: Accommodations for 7 nights, all meals, tour activities and ground transportation. Does not include alcoholic beverages or cash compensation.

Whether you buy property or not, this tour promises to be a lot of fun!

For details about the itinerary, click here for Uruguay Property Tours.

We have a new client, Uruguay Property Tour.

There’s an interesting, creative twist in play with these folks; this group of project owners have developed a joint marketing vehicle in Uruguay Property Tour. Six different properties are being cooperatively marketed through this partnership.

To build on this unique approach the group offers all inclusive real estate tours to showcase the properties as well as the cultural assets of Uruguay.

Here’s a sketch of the different real estate projects:

Sugar Loaf Ocean Club and Spa is the premiere development in the Piriapolis area. Sugar Loaf is South America’s only gated community and resort to combine Western comfort, Latin warmth, and thousands of years of Eastern wisdom, presented in a harmonious environment, very much by design. The development has the most commanding water and mountain views in the country. (This is my personal opinion.)

Alexander, Tiburon, and Blue Blue are three of Punta del Estes’ most luxurious condominiums located on the Playa Brava water front. These top quality condos are complete with luxury finishes and amenities that include indoor swimming pools, gyms, saunas, game rooms, movie theaters, business centers, tennis courts, and BBQ areas.

Laguna Tranquila is a new community overlooking the Rocha Lagoon near La Paloma. Just a few kilometers from Jose Ignacio, La Paloma and Laguna Tranquila are the next happening thing on the Coast. The property will feature a boutique hotel and spa as well as 146 homes, fractionals, and home sites ranging from 2,500 square meters to over a hectare. The beautiful views of the lagoon, ocean, and La Paloma lighthouse are perfect for exploration by hiking, by horseback, or by bike.

Be sure to visit the site and learn more about the fun and entertaining parts of the tour.

Click here to enter the Uruguay Property Tour site.

As you probably know, there are no statistics for real estate sales in Uruguay. About all there is are informal polls of realtors hopping you get a semi straight answer.

So here it goes. At the end of last year, about the only sector that was racing ahead was high-end Punta del Este flats, the $750K an up market. The Argies are bringing suite cases full of money into the country (literally) and dumping it into property. This is the usual end-run game for Argentines who fear the rath of their government in its many different forms. I’ve never understood this as a strategy for wealth protection? Why would you put your money in an illiquid, volatile asset if you’re afraid of losing it? Seems like a UY bank account, with its reasonable secrecy protection would be a better idea.

As far as the middle market: 100K  - 250K, traffic is down as compared with last year, buying is a bit more muted. So far, prices are stable, but I can’t see much in the way of upward pricing pressure.

My call for 2009 is mostly flat prices unless the bottom falls out of the Argentine economy which is just a matter of time. The country is not as tied to the Argentine economy as it was, but the impact will be brutal in Punta’s high-end, less so in the middle market

For years I’ve put this off, but now is as good a time as any.

If you ask a question and want exposure as well as feedback, please don’t ask a question on a post that’s several months old. No one is likely to see it, and my response isn’t going to be seen either. If I may, I also suggest the questions be on-topic. For instance, questions about schools in Punta del Este don’t really fit with a real estate article. If you need help with this issue, send me an email; it’s a better forum.

And last of all, please be nice. There was a time when I allowed comments to be published that were unreasonably argumentative and/or really negative. This was more the case on Coastal Uruguay than here. At any rate, I don’t have the time or patients for this kind of stuff. Many questions don’t get published for these reasons.

Thanks for reading the articles and the good questions.

Steve

I get these great calls from readers all the time and never really talk about it.

Last week a reader in Sao Palo called, a really nice guy named Matt. It kinda brought to mind an important motivator for having this site. We’ve been up and running for a year and half now….meeting new people is perhaps the best part.

Matt is interested in buying property on the Coast, and called to find out how I felt about the various options and possible locations for his family’s vacation home. He had mostly reached a decision, but after talking with Piriapolis’ main Evangelist (that’d be me), he’s sold on our village. This guy would be a wonderful fit for what is developing into an eclectic little enclave.

While I hope we do business, meeting worldly, international personalities and introducing them to the town makes the work rewarding and worthwhile.

Stay Tuned!

Steve Bowman

Why are people becoming Coastal Uruguay expats or second home owners?

During the last three years, I’ve put together a criteria based shopping list:

* The pristine beaches
* Mountain views
* The laid-back lifestyle
* Friendly/helpful people
* Reasonable property prices
* Safety/security
* A cosmopolitan environment
* Reasonable living costs
* Health care
* Luxury real estate and property that are relative bargains
* The good international schools in Punta del Este
* Great second home location for all the above reasons.

I feel, without question, there is a clear winner. If you’re interested read this article on Coastal Uruguay.

Stay Tuned!

To our clients, friends and business associates.

May the new year be joyful and prosperous for you and yours.

Best Wishes,

Steve Bowman

We’ve been absolutely flooded with calls and email for short-term high season rentals……less than a week.

This may be a little late, but I’d like to give a heads up to visitors coming durning late December, January and February.

Trying to book a private flat or home for less than a week is impossible! Much of this time frame is booked and the space that isn’t rented, can not be had for a few days. (Many owners, aren’t really receptive to one week rentals for that matter.) Hotels may be a little more lax, but not much.

The good news is there is space open for the second half of January with the above conditions.

Stay Tuned.

The following article is by a friend, Margarita Palatnik. She is a writer/translator who lives near us in Punta Colorada. Her astute observations are always appreciated.

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I’ve noticed that Spanish real-estate investors have been targeting Uruguay for quite some time now, but it’s interesting to see it confirmed from the developers´ themselves (see article pasted below)… And by Spanish I mean both Spaniards and money that was made in real estate development in Spain by nationals of other countries, who are also making their way here, in addition to Miami developers, who in many instances are one and the same (were developing in Miami and in Spain, and now have projects in Punta).

This is important in order to patch us over between Argentine recessions. That is, it means that possibly not all real estate and economic activity will grind to a halt the second Argentina crashes (like last time around) as some of these developers and realtors also bring the buyers/investors with them.

I’ve seen large numbers of investors from American, Spanish, French, Finnish, Dutch and British developers and realtors, all coming here via Spain (and Miami) and driving a flow of development money and/or buyers.

On the other hand, Brazilian developers, who have always been active at various levels of intensity in Punta del Este, seem to be picking up the pace. News came out last week of the purchase of the 120 hectare lot across from Laguna del Sauce airport by a Brazilian consortium, for $6 million. Cyrela, possibly the largest real-estate developer in Brazil, and significantly, owner of the luxury Fasano hotel chain, has also announced plans for a huge development in Punta, with the purchase of a 500 hectare site that will include a Fasano hotel, and which the company estimates has a potential end value of $540 million.

The fact that on three consecutive days we have seen large and glowing articles in British and even Arab media extolling the virtues of investing and or moving to Uruguay is a huge boost for our tourism and real-estate industries, and probably signals a tipping point in terms of numbers of foreigners coming to invest, buy, live, etc.

Uruguay being so small, it takes very little to produce a very large impact, and the many recent articles in the Financial Times and Sunday Times are the kind whose effects may be felt for several years to come.

- Margarita Palatnik

We recently mentioned a major project coming up in La Paloma, Rocha. If you haven’t heard, Rocha is hotter than a Saturday Night Special a few minutes after midnight. Rocha is particularly popular with Europeans, who have been buying small and vast tracks of inland farm property for over three years now. Now the game is spreading to the Coast, and the South Americans will be front and center in this push. Wealthy Argentines and Brazilians are projected to build luxury custom homes in the La Paloma area in the $500,000 - $1m plus range in the next year.

Further East, at Punta Negra, between Piriapolis and Punta del Este, there is a major luxury property development and hotel project under way.

More info on these to game changing projects will be coming up in the next few weeks.

Stay Tuned!

Steve Bowman