Summer in Uruguay and on the Argentina coast: how much will it cost?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to surveys conducted with a number of real estate agencies on the Argentine coast, some cities are now booked and the occupancy rate is close to 35% for January.

However, there will be more competition this summer because Uruguay is about to reopen its borders for travelers with the two vaccine doses. A summer with a large affluence of Argentines is expected in the eastern neighbor, although perhaps more modest than in other years due to the unfavorable exchange rate.

“There is still no certainty about rental prices in Mar del Plata,” explained Miguel Angel Dosini, president of the city’s Brokers Association. “Mar del Plata rates are in pesos and not in dollars and the values that will be set will be linked to inflation; we will launch them at the end of September,” he confirmed.

On the other hand, in Pinamar and Cariló most of the properties are currently offered for rent in dollars, if at all. As in 2020, there are still many owners in Cariló who have not yet decided if they will use their houses, so they are not advertising them yet, explains Silvia Melgarejo, from Constructora del Bosque. There are some 2,000 homes rented every year on the Buenos Aires beach, so high rates are expected.

In Cariló, from December 28 to January 15, the asking price starts at US$2,200 (around 374,000 pesos at last Friday’s official retail exchange rate) for a 3-bedroom house with an outbuilding, explains Melgarejo, and US$2,600 for a 4-bedroom house. Bookings at this time of the year are 15% higher than last August and stand at 40%, she explains, although 100% occupancy is expected for January.

Roberto Castelbajac from Marcel Gestión Inmobiliaria says that in Pinamar, a standard house for 6 people is rented from US$2,200 per fortnight in January; a house for 8 people from US$3,500 and exclusive houses by the sea or in private neighborhoods for 10 people or more go for US$7,000. The level of inquiries is higher than last season and he assures that 60% of his company’s offer is booked for the first month of 2022.

In addition to rental costs on the dollarized coast, there’s the transportation cost which, for a standard car, could be a tank of gasoline (around 4,500 pesos in the Federal Capital) and tolls. In addition, a meal at a restaurant in Pinamar with a starter, 4 main courses and 4 soft drinks costs 2,500 pesos per person at this time of the year. The prices for the start of the season are yet to be determined.

In the case of Uruguay, prices are different because everything pays PAIS tax and 35% withholding tax, as purchases are made in foreign currency. If traveling by ferry, the cost is around 137,000 pesos for 4 people, excluding storage costs. PCR tests for 4 add up to about 28,000 pesos. Lodging at one of Punta del Este’s best-known resorts costs around 352,000 pesos for 8 nights.

Paula Cristi, Despegar’s general manager for Argentina and Uruguay adds some reference prices for December effective as of August 27, for a 5-night stay for 2 people. In Colonia, a beachfront accommodation with swimming pool costs 25,000 pesos. In Punta del Este, an accommodation with private beach area and swimming pool starts at 60,000 pesos. And in Montevideo, lodging in Barrio de Las Artes with a river view and indoor pool goes for 32,000 pesos.

Bearing in mind that eating at a grill in Punta del Este costs on average US$20 or 3,400 pesos per person, the bill for 4 people would total almost 14,000 pesos. Filling up the car’s gas tank costs around US$80 or $13,500. A coffee with a croissant, around US$5 or $850 per head.

Although Punta del Este is not one of the cheapest destinations in the world, Uruguay will be expensive for Argentines this year. Throughout 2020 and so far in 2021, Uruguayan exchange houses and banks had their exchange rates distorted. The buying value of the Argentine peso (i.e., the value at which they take it) lost 70% in one year.

The most graphic way to illustrate this is with the “BROU dollar” (so called because of the value at which dollars are bought with Argentine pesos at the Banco República Oriental de Uruguay, where they can be obtained for around $890, a far cry from the $182 for which a parallel dollar bill can be obtained in Argentina). That figure increased 222% in one year, between August 2020 and August 2021.