2021 was the year when Brazilians sought larger and better homes with more space for offices and homeschooling. It was also the year when they enjoyed competitive mortgage rates. As a result, the property market saw one of the busiest periods on record and leading the Brazilian real estate market was Fortaleza. In the capital of Ceará, sales went up by over 86% last year.
Sales in Fortaleza increase the most in Brazil last year
According to the latest statistics from the Brazilian Property Registry, Fortaleza stands out as the city with the busiest real estate market in 2021. It had the highest increase in sales between January and November and for the 12 months up to November 2021.
Specifically, there were 12,981 sales of property in Fortaleza in the first 11 months of last year. The figure translates to an 86.8% increase on the same period in 2020. The capital of Ceará registered by far the highest growth in the country, well ahead of its nearest competitor, Florianopolis, with an increase of 60.2%. Sao Paulo stood in third position with a 44.1% rise in sales.
Highest increase in year
The Property Registry also released figures for the 12 months up to November 2021. And here, again, Fortaleza led the country for the biggest upticks in activity.
Over the 12 months, a total of 13,919 properties changed hands in Fortaleza, 77.6% more than the same period a year earlier. The figure is also over 49% higher than 2019, before the pandemic.
Sales were particularly brisk in the luxury home sector. Recent research from the SECOVI-CE revealed that transactions for homes valued at over R$5 million more than doubled last year.
Ceará mortgage lending up
In tandem with the busy sales market went mortgage loans. The latest statistics from the Brazilian Mortgage Lenders Association (ABECIP) point to an increase of 124% in the year. It is the biggest rise since records began.
In terms of national rankings, Ceará saw the third-highest increase in loans after Rio Grande do Norte and Pará.
Busy year for Brazilian real estate
The Property Registry called 2021 “an exceptional year” for Brazilian property. “It’s possible to say that the property market in 2021 was hotter than at the end of 2020,” commented Patricia Ferraz, Head of Research at the Registry. “The figures show the year was much better than 2020 and can therefore be considered exceptional,” she said.
Mortgage lending also soared in Brazil last year. Banks and credit entities approved loans for over 804,000 properties last year, a 116.9% increase on 2020. Between them, the mortgages totalled more than R$200 billion in value, 60% more than the R$124 billion loaned in 2020.
(Source: Brazilian Property Registry)
