The Island

It's not about another sci-fi movie, that's the way people know one of the more refined corners of Buenos Aires. The Island is a rich and privileged area of the city that spread its streets with elegant residential buildings surrounded by parks and gardens. Placed inside the Recoleta neighborhood, it owns its special recognition to the hill where it's been built. The quietness of the streets thanks to the lesser traffic and the beautiful European style buildings give these blocks a particular style that visitors love and made them once rename it as "the little Paris". Nowadays, it has modern buildings as well, and embassies and historical fronts who remember a golden age of Argentina at beginnings of XX century.
The stairs in the park near the British Embassy are the main access way for tourists and walkers, cause traffic is limited and there aren't too many parking spaces, specially near the oldest buildings who keep them for owners.
As it's a very well bordered zone, there are no terrains available for construction left and properties are valuated between the highest rates of the city. The prices depend of several variables such as the street where the property is located, the building amenities and some random characteristics such as if it's a modern or an aged building. About the properties surfaces, there're some ones who even overcome the 600 sqm. This makes the buying and selling process longer than in other areas of the Buenos Aires Real Estate market, cause either owners and buyers take more time to consider. And just cause of those matters, neighbors are very loyal to the neighborhood and the properties for sale offer is limited.
The neighborhood is very exclusive not only due to the higher rates, yet cause it keeps a style who's been unalterable since always as well. People don't use to think on moving out except to the countryside or some place outside Argentina, and those ones who have gone have even chosen to keep their properties as apartments for rent in Buenos Aires. This way, the streets of the Island are nourished with outsiders who rather stay there while visiting Buenos Aires, or students who prefer its parks to read or paint.
Along with the neighborhood attractives, a few minutes away from Recoleta's malls and luxury shops, visitors can have their meal at one of the nice cafés surrounding the gardens, or have lunch at one of the Island's elegant restaurants, known for their exclusive and quiet lounges for no more than six tables.

Is it a Bubble or is it Bubbling?

If there's something journalists have been talking too much about lately that's the Real Estate Market situation.
A dispute between tenants, owners and real estate agencies gets on stage a reality fact: lesser flexibility in the credit offer for middle-class population has reduced the rates of homes acquisition by the segment, and risen the rentals demand and the rental costs in consequence.
Tabloids are already talking of a bubble, a similar tendence to the one that affects the european real estate markets since the last decade. Nevertheless, real estate experts insure there's a whole different situation here, which far away from being considered as a problem finds itself in a stable point or even better, an optimal moment.
The very peak of real estate investments options for outsiders, with all the incomes generated from the acquiring of apartments in new buildings and towers, along with the success of argentinean farmers in the last years specially due to the high profitability of soy exports; have consolidated the consume of highly valued real estate projects for upper class buyers in Buenos Aires.
In fact, Puerto Madero's fast expansion and the globalization of the market in other important areas of the city such as Recoleta, which are expanding themselves with new developments that introduce modern and luxury properties to their offer, give us the clue of a splendor moment in the Buenos Aires Real Estate market; where buyers take advange of the lower values on rising tendence to acquire their terrains or to make real estate investments in Buenos Aires.
This growth in the costs is expected to be lessened in the next months with a new government plan meant to provide new credits and financial plans for middle-class buyers, so tenants will have new options to purchase their own properties and that way rentals demand will retourn to stability, as long as new but less sophisticated developments would start to be constructed.
By now, Buenos Aires skies flaunt dazzling skycrapers that try to welcome new owners by reducing their expectations, inviting interested buyers from Argentina and beyond.