Real Estate Investment in Chile Dipped 10.8 percent in 2003

Investment in Chile’s real estate business linked to the leisure industry was down 10.8 percent last year and the biggest chunk of projects in that span of time is “still under scrutiny,” local entrepreneurs said.

The Research Department of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism (CNC) and the Higher Council of Tourism (CONSETUR) disclosed the outcomes of the real estate sector for 2003 in their annual joint report.

In line with this document, the volume of investment in the tourist sector all through last year barely peaked $1.7 million, a double-digits decline from 2002, the CNC informed.

The second half of 2003 painted a better-case scenario following a lowering of mortgage interest rates, yet that alone was not enough to stop the freefall through most of last year.

Investment in new real estate projects added up $81.8 million, just 4.8 percent of the total volume tabbed in December 2003. That figure includes plans to be developed with mid-term deadlines.

The projects turned out to be small-fry operations, especially in the hotel sector, with figures ranging from $3 to $50 million, even though they provide better development opportunities for short-haul plans, the report indicates.

However, out of the half a dozen initiatives logged during the course of the year, only one is being executed right now and the remaining five are “under revision and feature deadlines for 2004.”