At the launch of a report published by the Rio de Janeiro Housing Syndicate (Sindicato da Habitação do Rio, Secovi-RJ), city mayor Eduadro Paes commented that prices increases have been “crazy” and that the prefecture itself has a responsibility in this area. The comments somewhat contradict those made in a BBC interview a few weeks previous where Paes stated: “I think it [the property boom] is a good thing and is helping the rediscovery and construction of areas that were degraded… I believe it is a special moment for the city and should not be viewed negatively – in the future, the situation may turn but the market is fair.”
Amongst the increasingly wider consensus that the current cycle of Brazil´s real estate market has finally peaked, many commentators often forget the sheer size of the country and that each of the 27 states has its own specific characteristics related to population size, demand, demographic makeup, infrastructure and existing stock...
The recent evictions and mass displacements of favela residents in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have served to demonstrate the extremely lagged nature of Brazil´s affordable housing strategy – with most of the demographic having very few options beyond the bare boned compensatory packages offered when such situations occur. Some interesting points were recently made by Ermínia Maricato, professor of the architecture and urbanism faculty at the University of São Paulo related to the growth in the acquisition of electronic goods, motorbikes and cars by those living in precarious living conditions in sharp contrast with the lack of progress in effective housing reform for these groups. In an interview with the Rede Brasil Atual, which has been broadly translated below, Maricato – one of the brains behind the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) programme – also commented that Brazilian urban housing reform is moving counter directionally and there is a need to initiate a “new fight”.
Relying on the generally ambiguous nature of real estate statistics and mainstream media reporting in Brazil invariably brings a challenge in getting an accurate picture of what is truly happening. However, as well as blogs such as “Bolha Imobiliária” (“Property Bubble”), “Observador do Mercado” (“Market Observer”) and “Brazilian Bubble” another site that continues to grow in popularity for providing less bias standpoints is Ricardo Torres’ Trading Café – from which I have translated a recent post he made on the current market.
Please see a recent strongly targeted quote from political commentator Delio Nilton Tonin via the Observador Político website on the ongoing progress of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) programme…
The Construction Industry Union of São Paulo (SindusCon-SP) has recently stated its disagreement with government led statistics by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) – pointing to the fact that the country’s real estate construction sector grew by 4.8 percent in 2011 and not 3.6 percent.
A recent initiative to construct 900 popular houses in Votorantim, São Paulo under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My House, My Life”) donation initiative highlighted the fact that input costs have continued to show no sign of abating.
March 1st, 2012 by
Ruban Selvanayagam
1 Comment
A recent article in the Rio de Janeiro online “R7” magazine pointed to the growing number of people moving into favela regions of the city as a result of the inflationary pressures on rents and wider perceptions that, as a result of the recent pacification programmes, they have become safer to live in.
Despite what looks set to be a continued deceleration of real estate launches, activity on Brazilian building sites remains relatively strong as many companies attempt deal with project backlogs. As a result, the rising numbers of deaths and injuries have been bringing major concerns on the back of increasing evidence of the lack of security, adherence to health & safety requirements, adequate training provision and supervision in addition to staff intimidation allegations.
Recent commentary made by Nabil Georges Bonduki, professor of urban housing at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo (FAU-USP) indicated that the rapid rises in land prices have effectively negated Brazilian housing sector growth, most notably for low income groups.
