By Stephanie Foden, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The price of real estate rentals in Rio dropped 0.07 percent in August, according to the FipeZap index, marking the first decline since June 2010, when prices fell by 0.4 percent. While most other cities did see a rise in rental costs in August, Rio remains the most expensive city surveyed by a significant margin.
Across all neighborhoods in the Cidade Maravilhosa the average square meter price in Rio de Janeiro is R$9,534, followed by Brasília at R$8,486 and São Paulo at R$7,451.
In Rio, the beachfront neighborhoods of Leblon and Ipanema are still the most expensive. The cost for a square meter in Leblon fell from R$22,234 to R$22,208, but still tops the list. Ipanema went from R$18,804 to R$19,059.
When compared with São Paulo, one detail calls the attention: the most costly square meter in the Paulistano metropolis is way cheaper than its carioca counterpart. Brazil’s most populous city’s priciest neighborhood, Vila Conceição, is almost R$9,000 cheaper than Rio’s Leblon.
On the other end, São Paulo’s most economical square meter of R$3,378 has a higher rate than Rio’s lowest-priced districts Pavuna (R$2,034) and Benfica (R$2,620) in the northern zone and center, respectively.
Compared to sales prices, this is the first slowdown for Rio in a twelve month period since April. This year, the asking price for residential property in the city has risen by 10.5 percent, however this does not reflect actual sale price or the amount of properties sold.
The FipeZap index, which tracks the average price of real estate per square meter of sixteen major cities in Brazil based on their Internet ad database, had a national average rise of 1.2 percent last month. A slight increase compared to the last two months, when the rate was 1.1 percent.
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