Santiago

Santiago is Chile's capital and financial hub, a metropolitan area of around 7 million people set against the backdrop of the Andes. It is Latin America's most stable capital market, with an investment-grade economy and a "Sanhattan" financial district concentrated in the affluent eastern communes of Las Condes, Vitacura and Lo Barnechea. Property prices and mortgages are denominated in the inflation-indexed UF, which has protected real values through volatile periods and makes the city a long-hold, inflation-protected market. With the policy rate down to 4.5% and mortgage rates near 4%, demand is recovering, though a large stock of unsold units keeps buyers in a strong negotiating position.