Brazil Rental Prices Rise for Sixth Consecutive Month

By Nelson Belen, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the latest FipeZap Residential Rental Index, which tracks residential rental listings across Brazil’s fifteen largest cities, rental prices in May 2018 rose, albeit marginally, for the sixth consecutive month, showing an accumulated increase of 1.90 percent for the year.

From April to May, residential rental prices across the country registered a nominal increase of 0.13 percent.

Of the fifteen cities in the survey, seven registered increases in prices from April to May. But, only Distrito Federal, Belo Horizonte, Recife, and Goiânia showed actual increases 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).

Distrito Federal showed the biggest increase of the month, with prices rising a marginal 0.94 percent. Distrito Federal was followed by Belo Horizonte which was up 0.88 percent, Recife at 0.80 percent, and Goiânia, which almost equaled inflation at 0.46 percent.

The biggest drops in May’s index were seen in Florianópolis and Niteroi, with residential rental prices in the two cities declining -0.89 percent and -0.59 percent respectively.

Rental prices in Rio de Janeiro remained stable, showing a slight decline of -0.22 percent.

Looking at the year overall, from January to May, average rental prices in the fifteen cities surveyed have increased 1.90 percent. Goiâna led the ranking with the biggest jump in this period, up 5.75 percent. Distrito Federal registered the second biggest increase in the year so far at 4.23 percent.

Rio de Janeiro prices have remained level through 2018 so far, up a nominal 0.18 percent overall.

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 May with an average price per square meter of R$36.64.

The Cidade Maravilhosa had the country’s second most expensive residential rental prices with an average of R$31.24 per square meter. Rounding out the top three in May was Distrito Federal, at R$29.62 per square meter.

Among the Brazilian cities with the cheapest rent per square meter in May were Goiânia (R$16.15), Fortaleza (R$16.26) and Curitiba (R$17.13).

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.