For years, buying an apartment in Miami was almost a reflex for an Argentine with savings in dollars. In the MIAMI REALTORS survey covering the year to July 2024, Argentina was the top foreign buyer in South Florida, ahead of Colombia. Two years later, the picture has changed.
The report Florida Realtors released this month, covering closed purchases from August 2025 to July 2026, shows that in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area Argentines went from 12% to 7% of foreign buyers in a single year. Statewide they slipped from fourth to fifth place, with 4% of purchases.
Source: Florida Realtors, Profile of International Residential Transactions in Florida, 2025 and 2026 editions. Chart labels in Spanish.
Before drawing conclusions, one important caveat: this is not only an Argentine story. In the same area, Colombia fell just as much, from 17% to 7%. International purchases in Florida dropped 18% in units and 13% in dollars, and Latin America now accounts for 39% of the total, down from more than 45% in each of the previous five years. The one gaining ground was Canada, which rose from 8% to 18% in the Miami area.
Nor has Miami become more expensive for buyers from abroad. The median price paid by international buyers in Florida fell from US$442,000 to US$424,000, and the share of agents who say their clients see Florida as pricier than home fell for the second year in a row.
Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires
On the other side, the Buenos Aires market shows something worth a careful look. In the first nine months of 2026, 48,195 purchase deeds were signed in the City of Buenos Aires, only 2.7% fewer than in the same period of 2025, a year the city's Notaries Association itself calls exceptional. The striking part is inside that number: deeds with a mortgage fell 31%, from 10,827 to 7,426.
In other words, credit shrank and the market held up anyway. People buying in Buenos Aires are increasingly doing it with their own dollars. And that is exactly the profile of the Argentine who buys in Florida: two out of three pay all cash.
The right question
With these numbers it is tempting to conclude that Argentines left Miami to invest at home again. That would be premature. No data follows the same buyer from one market to the other, Buenos Aires deeds include every kind of buyer, and dollars keep leaving: in August alone, the Central Bank estimates that about US$700 million of individuals' dollar purchases went to assets abroad.
What the numbers do show is that both markets compete for the same savings: the dollar that no longer needs a bank. So the question that matters is not where Argentines are buying, but where that dollar works harder, at what risk and for how long.
The full analysis is in the members area. Who the Argentine buying in Florida is today (what they buy, how much they pay and why), what a Buenos Aires apartment yields in dollars, why Argentine developers' margins got squeezed, and the three risks that could flip the picture before 2027.
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Frequently asked questions
Are Argentines still buying in Miami?
Yes, but they weigh less. From August 2025 to July 2026 they were 7% of foreign buyers in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area, down from 12% a year earlier, according to Florida Realtors. Statewide they rank fifth, with 4% of purchases.
Why did Argentine buying in Florida drop?
The data does not point to a single cause. The drop coincides with a broader retreat of Latin American buyers (Colombia fell just as much) and of Florida's international market, down 18% in units. There is no evidence Miami became more expensive for foreign buyers: the median price they paid fell.
How is the Buenos Aires real estate market in 2026?
Stable in volume and carried by cash: 48,195 purchase deeds from January to September (−2.7%) with 31% fewer mortgages, according to the City Notaries Association. Asking prices are around US$2,484 per square meter, 11.3% below their all-time high (Zonaprop).
Sources: Florida Realtors, 2025 and 2026 Profile of International Residential Transactions in Florida (closed purchases Aug-2024/Jul-2025 and Aug-2025/Jul-2026; share of international sales in the metro area). MIAMI REALTORS, International Report 2024 edition. Colegio de Escribanos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, September 2026 statistics. Banco Central de la República Argentina, foreign exchange market report, August 2026. Zonaprop Index, September 2026. Photo: Puerto Madero, Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
This note is reference analysis based on public data and is not a substitute for legal, tax or financial advice.