Residential Rental Prices Lag Behind Inflation Rate in Brazil

By Nelson Belen, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Residential rental prices in Brazil remained stable in October at -0.04 percent, but showed a nominal loss when measured against the month’s inflation rate of +0.40 percent, as calculated by the IPCA/IBGE (National Consumer Price Index/Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

The figures were published in the latest FipeZap Rental Index, which tracks real estate rental listings across Brazil’s fifteen largest cities.

Nine of the fifteen cities in the survey registered increases in October. However, only São Bernardo de Campo (+2.98 percent), Belo Horizonte (+0.99 percent), Florianópolis, and Fortaleza (+0.56 percent) were able to outpace inflation.

The biggest declines in October were seen in Santos and Rio de Janeiro, with residential rental prices in the two cities declining -0.60 percent and -0.43 percent respectively.

Looking at the year overall, from January to October, average rental prices in have increased +2.02 percent, but still fell short of the inflation rate for the period of +3.84 percent.

In the ten month period, São Bernardo de Campo had the biggest increase, up +7.38 percent. Recife was not too far behind with an increase of +7.22 percent.

During that period, rental prices in Rio de Janeiro prices have declined -2.81 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 October with an average price per square meter of R$36.87.

The Cidade Maravilhosa was a distant second with residential rental prices hovering at R$30.31 per square meter. Rounding out the top three in October was Distrito Federal at R$29.44 per square meter.

Among the Brazilian cities with the cheapest rent per square meter in May were Curitiba (R$18.04), Goiânia (R$15.85), and Fortaleza (R$15.67).

The FipeZap Index monitors real estate sale prices across fifteen 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.