Real estate sales registered a strong decline during the first trimester of 2012.
The decline in sales had a small but insignificant impact on real estate prices which are still much higher than they were during the same period of last year.
According to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the quantity of square meters sold fell 16.9% in the first trimester of 2012 compared to with 2011.
Prices fell slightly during the first trimester of 2012. Measured in dollars, the value of the average transaction fell by 1.67%. Measured in Uruguayan pesos the drop was 2.82%. Nevertheless, the strong rise in prices last year has left prices still significantly higher than during the first trimester of 2011.
The data released by the INE shows that prices in the first trimester of 2012 are still up 15.52% when measured in pesos and 14.9% when measured in dollars over prices during the same period in 2011. These higher prices remained despite at 10.73% drop in real estate transactions. The drop in sales is not a new trend but a continuation of the decline that began in the last trimester of 2011. Sales fell 10.77% during that period.
This Uruguay Business Reports news article is a translation of an article that appeared in the Uruguayan newspaper El Observador. The original Spanish language article is available here. Uruguay Business Reports translation by Donovan Carberry.
Uruguay Business Reports 