Argentina Rents Rise but Lag Inflation

Argentina’s rental market is producing a mixed picture almost three years after deregulation. Housing supply in Buenos Aires remains far above the levels seen before the reform, while rents continue to climb in pesos. The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment reached ARS 873,668 a month in July 2026, up 30.7% from a year earlier. Yet rents have risen 17.5% since January, below inflation of 19.2%, producing a modest real decline. Affordability remains strained, however, and Córdoba and Rosario have recently recorded rent increases above inflation.

Buenos Aires rents continue to rise in pesos

The average asking rent for a two-room apartment, typically a living room plus one bedroom, reached ARS 873,668 a month in the City of Buenos Aires in July. That was 1.6% above June, 17.5% higher than at the start of 2026 and 30.7% above a year earlier. Consumer prices increased 19.2% during the first seven months of the year, leaving asking rents about 1.7% lower in real terms.

Differences across markets remain wide. Puerto Madero averages about ARS 1.309 million a month, compared with ARS 656,159 in Lugano. Greater Buenos Aires North averages ARS 812,053, with rents up 12.9% this year and down roughly 6.3% after inflation. Córdoba has moved in the opposite direction: its average one-bedroom rent reached ARS 619,061 by March and increased 11.1% during the first quarter, above inflation of 8.5%. Rosario’s latest figure, for May, was ARS 565,028, with rents up 15.9% during 2026, roughly one percentage point above inflation. Buenos Aires gross rental yield stood at 5.76% in July, while the average apartment asking price was $2,471 per square meter, still 11.7% below the series peak, Zonaprop data show.

Inflation explains continued nominal rent increases

A 20% or 30% rise in Argentine rents cannot be interpreted in the same way as a similar increase in a low-inflation economy. National consumer prices rose 2.1% in July, while cumulative inflation for January through July reached 19.2%. Consumer prices were about 33.8% higher than a year earlier. Buenos Aires asking rents, up 30.7% over 12 months, therefore rose slightly more slowly than the general price level. Argentina’s national statistics institute, INDEC, reports the inflation data.

Both statements are consequently true: tenants are paying substantially more pesos than a year ago, while the average advertised rent has edged down relative to the overall price level.

Deregulation changed the structure of rental contracts

The major legal break came in December 2023, when emergency decree DNU 70/2023 repealed Rental Law No. 27,551 and removed many of the national restrictions governing new leases.

The duration of a lease is now determined by the parties. If no term is specified for permanent residential housing, the default is two years. Rent may be denominated in pesos or foreign currency, the parties can select the index used for adjustments, and the amount and currency of the security deposit can be negotiated freely. Payment frequency is also contractual, although payments cannot be required more frequently than monthly. These provisions are set out in Argentina’s Civil and Commercial Code as amended by DNU 70/2023.

The previous regime was considerably more prescriptive. The 2020 law generally required three-year residential contracts and annual rent adjustments based on an index combining inflation and wage growth. Amendments passed in October 2023 moved adjustments to six-month intervals and changed the formula, but that framework survived for only about two months.

Rental supply increased sharply after deregulation

The strongest empirical evidence concerns supply.

Economists Martin Elfert and Stephan Thomsen examined weekly Buenos Aires data from 2023 to 2024 using a regression-discontinuity design. Their preferred local linear model estimates an immediate supply increase of roughly 46%, equivalent to about 2,670 additional listings, followed by an increase of around 210 listings a week. An alternative quadratic specification does not find the immediate jump statistically significant, however, which is why the exact size of the effect should not be treated as a settled figure. The study was published as an IZA discussion paper and explicitly describes its conclusions as preliminary.

The study also finds downward pressure on rents relative to their previous trajectory. In the preferred sample, point estimates imply nominal declines of as much as 2.6% and real declines of 13% to 29%. The price results are less stable than the supply estimates: when the authors use a longer 2019–2024 sample, nominal-price coefficients become less uniform, while real-price effects remain negative.

The 13% to 29% range therefore should not be described as an observed market-wide fall in Argentine rents. It is a model-based estimate of the short-term Buenos Aires effect under particular specifications.

Supply remains elevated in 2026

The increase was not limited to the months immediately following the legal change. During the second quarter of 2026, the floor area offered for long-term rental in Buenos Aires reached the highest level in a series beginning in 2021.

CEPA attributes the increase to more than deregulation alone. Apartments previously withheld while owners waited for a new legal framework entered the market, while currency appreciation and weaker incentives for short-term tourist rentals also shifted units toward conventional leases. The share of Buenos Aires households that rent has risen to 36.2% from 24% in 2003, while the homeowner share has fallen from about 64% to 52%.

The evidence that rental supply expanded is therefore relatively strong. Isolating how much of the subsequent price movement was caused by deregulation is considerably more difficult because inflation, exchange rates, household incomes and the short-term rental market changed at the same time.

Real-rent measures differ depending on period and methodology

Recent datasets can appear contradictory unless their definitions are separated carefully.

The advertised-rent index shows Buenos Aires rents rising 17.5% during January through July, below national inflation of 19.2%, implying a modest real decline.

CEPA’s second-quarter analysis shows a different short-term movement. Between April and June, its rental measure increased about 8%, compared with a 6.5% rise in the City of Buenos Aires consumer-price index. Rents therefore outpaced that inflation measure by about 1.5 percentage points. During the first half of 2026, rental inflation exceeded general inflation in four of six months.

The two results are not mutually exclusive. They cover different time periods, use different inflation benchmarks and rely on different market measures.

It is therefore too broad to say simply that “rents have fallen after deregulation.” A more precise conclusion is that July asking-price data show Buenos Aires rents rising slightly less than national inflation so far in 2026, even though parts of the year showed renewed real increases.

Flexible contracts change how inflation enters rents

Deregulation has also altered the timing of rent increases.

Under the previous framework, landlords unable to adjust a lease for long periods had an incentive to incorporate expected future inflation into the initial asking rent. Contracts can now provide for more frequent adjustments.

That can make the initial rent more exposed to competition between landlords while giving tenants several increases during the life of a contract.

TheLatinvestor estimates that conventional Buenos Aires rental listings are currently about 3.4 times their 2023 trough and says supply expanded 195.4% during 2024. It also highlights an important limitation in the freshest market indexes: they largely measure advertised rents rather than the complete cost of signed leases after subsequent indexation, deposits, building charges and utilities.

More supply has not solved affordability

The number of apartments available to tenants has improved more clearly than the financial burden of renting them.

About 63.7% of renting households in Buenos Aires currently spend more than 30% of household income on rent. The share rises to 66.9% in the south of the city and 64.8% in central districts, while the north stands at 58.7%.

This highlights the difference between rents relative to inflation and rents relative to earnings. Housing can become cheaper against the consumer-price index without becoming easier for a household to afford if wages are also lagging.

Deregulation can rapidly change how the existing housing stock is used. It cannot by itself build additional homes or raise household income.

Rental economics have improved for owners

The economics of long-term leasing have become more attractive for property owners. Gross rental yield in Buenos Aires is about 5.76% a year, equivalent to roughly 17.3 years of gross rental income to match a property’s purchase price.

That calculation excludes taxes, maintenance, vacancy, transaction costs and other expenses, so it should not be interpreted as a net investment return.

The yield has also benefited from the relatively subdued recovery in property-sale prices. Average Buenos Aires apartment values remain almost 12% below their historical peak, meaning rental income has recovered faster than dollar-denominated purchase prices.

Argentina does not have a single rental market

Córdoba and Rosario demonstrate why Buenos Aires cannot stand in for the entire country.

Both cities have recently recorded rent increases above inflation despite operating under the same national legal framework.

Rental law establishes the terms under which landlords and tenants can contract. It does not determine how many homes are available in an individual city. Local construction, incomes, tourism, population demand, short-term rentals and the initial shortage of available properties all remain decisive.

FAQ: Argentina’s rental market

Did rents fall after deregulation?

That conclusion cannot be applied to the whole country. Buenos Aires advertised rents have risen slightly less than national inflation so far in 2026. Córdoba and Rosario have recently shown real rent increases instead.

How much does it cost to rent in Buenos Aires?

The average asking rent for a two-room, typically one-bedroom, apartment was about ARS 873,668 a month in July 2026. Puerto Madero averaged more than ARS 1.3 million, while Lugano was around ARS 656,000.

What changed after the Rental Law was repealed?

Landlords and tenants gained much broader freedom over lease length, payment currency, adjustment mechanisms and security deposits. If no term is specified for a permanent residential lease, the default is two years.

Can rent be set in U.S. dollars?

Yes. Current federal law allows the parties to agree on rent in Argentine pesos or foreign currency.

How much did rental supply increase?

The exact figure depends on the dataset and statistical model. IZA’s preferred specification estimates an immediate increase of about 46%, while market indicators show that available rental stock remains several times above its 2023 trough.

Why are rents still rising if supply increased?

Argentina still has substantial inflation. More housing supply can slow rent increases without being sufficient to push nominal peso prices lower. In Buenos Aires, rents have continued to rise in pesos while slightly lagging inflation so far this year.

Has renting become affordable in Buenos Aires?

Choice has improved substantially, but affordability remains strained. Almost two-thirds of renter households spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

As International Investment experts report, Argentina’s experience provides relatively strong evidence that easing contractual restrictions can rapidly bring previously withheld housing back into the long-term rental market. The price conclusion is less clear-cut. Buenos Aires’ July data point to a modest real decline in asking rents so far this year, but some quarters have already shown renewed real increases, while Córdoba and Rosario have followed different trajectories. For investors, stronger rental yields improve the economics of ownership, but future performance will depend increasingly on inflation, real wages, construction, exchange rates and access to mortgage finance rather than on lease deregulation alone.