Brazil Property News

Green construction doesn’t come cheap. King Sturge’s ‘European Property Sustainability Matters’ report published in February of this year estimates that creating a zero-carbon home could increase build costs by 25 to 42%.

Natal in Brazil’s north east has just been given the honour from football’s ruling body FIFA to become a host city for the 2014 World Cup. Already a favourite with property investors, this coastal paradise will now be showcased on TV sets across the globe.

Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has never been one to mince his words. Asked what he thought of the economic crisis last autumn he said “What crisis? Go and ask Bush about that".

Thanks to a compelling combination of soaring popularity and stringent planning regulations, development land in the centre of Pipa village is rare to the point of near extinction.

Figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) show that in 2008, Brazil’s tourism industry rose to 13th position in the world in terms of the economic activity it generates.

Men are from Mars women are from Venus, we all know that, so it follows suit that residential developers across the gender divide have slightly different priorities.

“Which country; which property; is it a fair price; is my estate agent telling the truth?” Buying overseas creates enough headaches to make anyone want to pack it all in and go on holiday.

Brazil is a vast country boasting 7,400km of coastline so buyer beware that you don’t end up on an isolated beachfront with no nearby shops and restaurants. Or worse still, no subsequent end-users to sell on to or provide you with rental income.

At a development launch prime units sell quickly to the early birds and in the case of the boutique resort of Pipa Beleza that meant the penthouses. With sunny rooftop solarium and optional Jacuzzi from which to soak up the sunsets, these two bedroom duplex units literally raced off the plans.

The winter property season tends to focus on ski property - apartments and chalets in popular resorts which cost an arm and possibly even a leg if you misjudge a black run. However, if the only part of chucking yourself down a mountain in the freezing cold that appeals is the promise of a drink in the bar afterwards, there’s an infinitely warmer festive property alternative.

Exchange rates haven’t been very kind to Brits over the past few months. The pound is weaker than ever against the euro (just 1.25€/£) making that holiday home in Euroland all the more expensive whilst even the dollar has rallied back up to 1.57$US/£ so we can no longer enjoy two-dollar-for-the-price-of-one shopping along Fifth Avenue.

Off-plan property may suit the bold and the brave but for some it’s just nice to get down to brass tacks and sign-up for a home that’s built and ready to go. No surprises, no waiting and no need for a vivid imagination.

A sprawling mansion hugging a tropical beach is the stuff property dreams are made of. Fantasise no more. For less than 175,000 euros you can have this mansion, well one of the 11 homes within it, fronting the paradisiacal beaches of Tibau do Sul close to Pipa, Natal, on Brazil’s northeastern coastline.

Brazil is delicately balancing the tightrope between actively encouraging more tourists and becoming overly ‘touristy’. The adoption of a ‘less is more’ approach is proving to be the key to success allowing the beaches, climate, cuisine and inspirational locals to speak for themselves.

The Brazilian property market is already riding the crest of a boom, but now even the currency is co-operating with the news that the Real has weakened by over 8% against the dollar in the last month alone. This makes that beautiful beach property even more affordable than ever.

Few would argue that Pipa Beach is northeast Brazil’s pick of the bunch, but some would prefer to set their sights higher than a pocket-money priced off-plan apartment and take the plunge on a key-ready, private luxury villa – and at little over 200,000 pounds for three spacious bedrooms and glorious sea views, why not?

Talk is cheap. It’s incredibly easy to say “rental returns will be high” but difficult to deliver. When London-based Gilles Acogny, 47, a seasoned investor with a portfolio of property stretching across France, Senegal and the UK, was deciding his next move he wanted to be sure of the credentials of the development he was throwing his hard-earned pennies into… Brazil’s Quinta da Lagoa passed muster.

Property prices have rocketed in Brazil over recent years and if investors could turn the clock back 18 months, knowing then what they do now, they would have snapped up several prime units and be feeling pretty smug today.

For Brazil the credit crunch may just as well be the fabled breakfast cereal. Whilst the London stock market shrank by 1.5% during 2007, its São Paulo counterpart expanded by 93% due to a flood of foreign investment, a sizeable chunk of which went into real estate. Even Goldman Sachs has had to admit that they got it ‘wrong’.

International property investment company Propertyshowrooms.com unveils a rare investment opportunity in the Brazilian city of Natal.

While European media dishes up daily doses of recession and global credit crunch, on the other side of the world things could hardly be more different. In Brazil, GDP growth predictions are healthy, foreign reserves have seen massive increases and Brazilian consumers cannot get enough retail therapy. And this includes property.

The major appeal of an off-plan purchase is also its main disadvantage. Early participation means early bird prices but the by-product is a long wait before you can either enjoy your first holiday or cash your first rental income.

Enthusiastic, intelligent, researched and prepared, web developer Paul Knott presented himself as the ideal client to Brazil real estate experts uv10.com.

When investing in emerging markets, ‘cheap’ can truly be cheerful. Low entry prices of tens of thousands of euros can reap good returns and give you a pretty decent holiday bolt-hole to boot.

With the property market in traditional second home hotspots like Spain facing an uncertain future, there’s never been a better time to go Brazilian according to investment advisors, IN2 property investment.