Brazil stands out in international real estate market recovery
Valor Econômico
On one side, seven speakers present the figures and information on the grounds of the Brazilian economy and the different segments of the real estate market. On the other, nearly 150 people are attentively sitting at the audience interested in every detail exposed. It has become easier "to sell" Brazil. The country that first got out the crisis is able to amaze eyes and ears used to bad news. Foreign investors hurt by the crisis are still recovering from the heavy loses they suffered, but they are able to see in Brazil the light that remains off practically everywhere in the world.
"The mood here in the United States continues very bad. If the investors don't come to a place where everyone says the same thing it is even difficult to believe the scenario is so positive in Brazil", affirms José Palm, CEO of Max Cap Real Estate Investment Advisors, one of the Brazilian speakers at the Brazil Real Estate Conference. For the first time, the Brazilian Government takes part in an event like this. Maria Fernanda Coelho, President of Caixa Econômica Federal (the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank), came to present the My House, My Life program (Minha Casa, Minha Vida), which despite of the name in Portuguese, is already part of the vocabulary of the investors interested in Brazil and in this so celebrated low income market.
Brazil is in the spot light, that is what they around here. And the Brazilian companies of the real estate sector are taking advantage of the conjunction of positive factors to attract investments to the country. There are external factors, like the weaker competition from other emerging countries, favoring Brazil. Of the BRIC countries, according to the investors, only China disputes with Brazil, despite of the great differences between the two countries.
Internally, a sum of factors makes the timing be very favorable to Brazil. Sound macroeconomic grounds, such as the fall in the interest rates, the growth of the middle class and the per capita income and an estimate growth of nearly 4.8% of the GDP in 2010, draw the attention.
Lastly, the housing program of the Government outlined the last factors that were missing to complete a scenario of heated demand. Due to the "My House, My Life" program, the low income segment gains prominence among the different segments of the Brazilian real estate market. Heidi Thompson, from Daiwa Asset Management, Japanese asset management company, has already invested US$ 215 million in stocks from Brazilian companies (Gafisa, Cyrela, Rossi, PDG, MRV, Agra and BR Malls), repeats that the economic segment is one of the most attractive of the real estate market because of the growth potential. But he fears the political risk of next year. Another fund that already has investments in Brazil, but still seeks new opportunities, is Janus Capital Group, with stocks from MRV, Cyrela, Rossi, PDG and Rodobens. Matthew Hochstetler, from Janus, sees an unprecedented transformation in the Brazilian real estate market.