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Sotheby's: Brazil has great opportunities to offer investors

Date added: 17th October, 2008 at 09:56
(view all articles from October, 2008)

Categories: Tourism, Salvador, Villas, Hotels, Islands

A director at one of the world's most famous auction houses has claimed there is a large amount of potential for investment in Brazil's real estate market.

Fabio Rossi Filho, who is in charge of Sotheby's Brazilian real estate division, told Brazzil Magazine that of the units sold by his company around the world in recent years, the ones based in the South American country are consistently among the strongest.

The expert suggested that the sector could be set to get even better in the near future too, with real estate viewed as one of the safest options for investors due to economic turmoil.

"Buying real estate is, once again, a good deal. It is a safe haven in times of crisis and Brazil has great opportunities to offer investors," he remarked.

Mr Filho referred to agricultural property in Bahia as a particularly good option and it is these types of investments that he believes could increase the number of interested parties from overseas.

Sotheby's customerbase, which will generate approximately $481 million (£278.4 million) in sales for the company by the end of 2008 and is expected to double in 2009, is currently made up of 70 per cent Brazilian investors and 30 per cent foreign investors.

However, Mr Filho appears to think that this will change in the future, claiming: "The country's potential for trade of this kind of real estate is enormous."

Bahia is the largest state in North East Brazil as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) and accounted for 4.9 per cent of the country's economy in 2004.

During that year, the agriculture sector - the chief exports from which are soybeans and cacao - made up 10.7 per cent of Bahia's GDP, with the industrial sector generating 48.5 per cent and the service sector 40.8 per cent

It is the latter that the region is perhaps best known for given its burgeoning tourism industry, which is the strongest in North East Brazil and among the largest in the entire country.

Salvador, its capital, is Brazil's second most popular tourist destination and is renowned for its weather - the average year-round temperature is 25 degrees C - food and architecture.

Indeed, the Pelourinho - a colloquial name for its city centre - was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1985, one of less than 20 such locations in the country. ADNFCR-1477-ID-18831040-ADNFCR