Residential Rental Prices Decline Again Across Brazil

By Nelson Belen, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the latest FipeZap Residential Rental Index, residential rental prices across Brazil’s fifteen biggest cities showed another slight decline in August, dropping 0.33 percent.

Of the fifteen cities in the survey, six registered slight increases from July to August: Belo Horizonte (+0.72 percent), Salvador, (+0.36 percent), Florianópolis (+0.26 percent), Curitiba (0.17 percent), Distrito Federal (+0.14 percent), and São Bernardo do Campo (+0.09 percent).

However, only Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and Florianópolis were able to outpace August’s inflation rate of 0.19 percent, as determined by the IPCA/IBGE (National Consumer Price Index/Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

The biggest drops in the survey for last month were seen in Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi, with residential rental prices in two cities declining -1.38 percent and -0.86 percent respectively.

When drawn out over the last twelve months, average rental prices overall in Brazil declined 0.51 percent. Rio de Janeiro led the ranking with the biggest drop over this period, down -6.62 percent, followed by Campinas, down -4.62 percent.

On the positive side, over the last twelve months Distrito Federal (+3.32 percent), São Bernardo do Campo (+3.00 percent), Santos (+2.63 percent), and Belo Horizonte (+2.58 percent) registered the largest increases.

These cities were also able to beat the twelve-month period inflation rate of 2.46 percent.

In terms of actual prices, Brazil’s commercial capital of São Paulo held the distinction of having the most expensive residential rental prices in the country in August with an average price per square meter of R$35.76.

The Cidade Maravilhosa had the country’s second most expensive residential rental prices with an average of R$32.92 per square meter. Rounding out the top three most expensive rental prices in August was Distrito Federal, at R$29.70 per square meter.

Among the Brazilian cities with the cheapest rent per square meter in August were Goiânia (R$14.80), Fortaleza (R$16.23) and Curitiba (R$16.49).

The FipeZap Index monitors real estate sale prices across twenty Brazilian cities and is a monthly gauge of property prices. It is prepared jointly by the university research center, Fipe (Economic Research Institute Foundation) and the Brazilian online real estate platform, Zap Properties.