When the Virus also hit Uruguay by a person who returned from Italy beginning March and went to a large wedding in Montevideo although already showing signs of the virus and consequently infected dozens, our new middle-right Government reacted swiftly.
They closed the airport, borders, restaurants, businesses, and schools immediately, despite the upcoming Easter vacation tourism. Our favorite hangouts in Jose Ignacio like La Huella, Solera, La Choza were closed within hours on March 15th.
At first, our business, which consists mainly of incoming international buyers, received lots of client e-mails canceling their planned property visit trips and business got to a complete stillstand. For several weeks we had hardly any inquiries anymore while everyone was paralyzed watching what was unfolding around the world. All we could do was taking care of things in and around the house we never had the time to do before.
Suddenly after Easter, we have had a real spike and our e-mail inbox is full every morning with inquiries from American and European city dwellers. They show interest in “Estancias” and beachside properties, telling us they would love to ride out this Coronavirus rather on a porch in Garzon or Pueblo Eden and will come down as soon as International travel resumes after the current crisis. We have clients telling us, that they had Uruguay on their radar for years and maybe for their retirement but are speeding up their plans to get out of the rat race as soon as possible.
We are even seeing offers on properties over the internet, which we did not see before the Corona Crisis.
Then there was a great article in the British Times last week about travel Ideas for 2021 titled: Unwind in Uruguay’s playground for the A-list. The columnist Julia Buckley describes our peak season-over Christmas and New Year – to be said the shortest and priciest on the planet – but is all impressed with Jose Ignacio. She goes on saying…… “Yet what makes this expensive resort so entrancing is that luxury hear means something different. This isn’t somewhere people blind the locals with outrageous bling; it’s where the rich come to play at being normal” and lists many of our cool “shabby chic” beach restaurants, bars, and eateries. She calls “La Huella” the best beachside restaurant on the planet. See Article.
Together with all this new and positive interest, some interesting “crisis deals” and the government’s new offer for foreigners, we expect that real estate in Uruguay will soon be picking up again.
It is a good moment to get in, as prices are much lower than they used to be and there is always something positive in a big negative moment like this. Stay all healthy and well and if interested, contact us for current special deals.
