Argentines Turn Cash Into Condos in Miami
By Alexei Barrioneuvo, New York Times/Sunday Real Estate, online Sept. 13, in print Sept. 16, 2012

[....] 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.

Brazil’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. 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.

Economic and political uncertainty around the globe are benefitting real estate in the United States, especially in Miami and New York, the two “safe haven” American cities foreign investors usually look to first. South Florida’s real estate market is certainly no stranger to capital flight from Latin America. But the velocity at which some Argentines are investing in Miami real estate has shocked some brokers here.

“The desperation of the Argentine people has taken over and they are actually market leaders here now,” Ms. Sanchez said. “Any project today in Miami is probably being sold 50 percent to the Argentines.”

 The government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president, has been trying to stop the capital outflow, which nearly doubled to $21.5 billion last year from $11.4 billion in 2010, with increasingly severe methods.

Argentines now have to submit requests to tax authorities to convert pesos into dollars for overseas trips, and are rarely approved for much. Overseas credit card purchases are heavily taxed at home. And specially trained dogs working for tax authorities are sniffing for dollars at ports, airports and border crossings.

The government began restricting access to dollars last November, days after Ms. Kirchner won a second four-year term.

What’s driving all this? Argentina has struggled to preserve its hard-currency reserves in the Central Bank and sustain a trade surplus [....]