CONCLUSION
* Real estate in superior locations maintained its value to a reasonable extent in the first two years following devaluation, enabling operators to reconsider and adapt their sales strategies.
* The location of a property became the fundamental issue when purchasing decisions were made.
* The scarcity of financing did not hinder the market as much as anticipated.
* A substantial change in the profile of buyers occurred, from homeowners to non-resident investors.
* Clients with no knowledge of the market too readily accepted as definitive values what was published in the press.
* Values in the market became polarized more than ever.
* If one measured the market in pesos (the Argentine currency) it generally went up and devaluation benefited the real estate market--if measured in foreign currency (assets in euros or dollars)--depreciated, but not in proportion to the Argentine currency devaluation.
The Argentine experience of devaluation, in respect of situations such as the one underwent and its impact on the real estate sector, is quite rich in lessons. The varied responses exposed the weakness of simplistic analysis that does not consider the multiple factors at work in a crisis. Many issues are not related to the area of economics, but are more closely linked to cultural, sociological and subjective behavior.
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