Last November, La Haus announced that they would accept Bitcoin for real estate investments in Mexico. And it didn’t take long: today they unveiled their first sale in Bitcoin. It was of an apartment in the Riviera Maya located in the Palais Tulum residential complex; it that was sold with a value of 5.78 ₿.
A resident of Lima, Peru, who was looking for a place to vacation through the La Haus platform, bought the apartment. The Palais Tulum complex is a Rivieralty construction company development that is 80% complete. The property that was sold consists of two lock off rooms, which function as a kind of timeshare.
After the sale, the developer decided to keep the 5.78 ₿ in cryptocurrency and not in current currency. That equates to US$245,786, taking into account that as of the publication of this text the Bitcoin was trading at US$42,523.54, according to Coinbase.
La Haus is a proptech founded by Jeronimo Uribe, Tomas Uribe, Rodrigo Sanchez-Rios, and Santiago García. They said in a statement that half a year ago they wanted to open their developments to cryptocurrencies, since 50% of their clients are foreigners.
Thus, the use of digital currencies would make it easier for them to process cross-border transactions. “This is real. It is an effective and convenient way to make international transactions, because it removes intermediaries, and addresses real problems in Latin America such as fluctuations in exchange rates and inflation,” said Jehudi Castro-Sierra, Future Vice President at La Haus.
Cryptocurrencies and Real Estate
Although the practice of using cryptocurrencies to buy or auction homes is recent in Latin America, in countries such as the United States it is becoming increasingly common.
For example, in the US 11.6% of first-time homebuyers through the fourth quarter of 2021 sold cryptocurrencies to finance the down payment, a Redfin survey noted.
“Cryptocurrencies are a way for people without generational wealth to win a sort of lottery ticket for the middle class,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, in a statement.
In Latin America, around 37% belong to the middle class (although the definition tends to vary by region). According to the World Bank, a middle-class person in Mexico earns between US$380, and US$2,044 per month.
If one of these people wanted to afford one of the properties that La Haus is offering, they would not be able to do it with their usual income, much less considering the effects of inflation on their purchasing power. Taking that into account, La Haus is offering the use of Bitcoin, which is immune to inflationary fluctuations, to make purchases.
La Haus said in their statement that Bitcoin would facilitate greater foreign investment in Mexican real estate; but the question still remains whether this would also benefit potential domestic buyers seeking to acquire a property in their country.
Sandra Pérez. (2022). La Haus Accepts First Real Estate Transaction With Bitcoin in Mexico. USA. Contxto. Recuperado de https://contxto.com/en/mexico/la-haus-sells-their-first-bitcoin-property-in-mexico/
