Property prices are expected to continue rising this year, industry predicts

Property prices in Brazil should continue to rise, driven by construction costs above inflation in the country. The forecast, from Cbic (Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry), was released on Monday (15).

The study “National Real Estate Indicators for the 2nd quarter of 2022”, carried out in partnership with Senai Nacional and Brain Inteligência Estratégica, projects that, even with the fall in family income and the rise in prices, demand will remain heated.

For Fábio Tadeu Araújo, CEO of Brain Inteligência Estratégica, 2022 will be the second best year in the sector, behind only 2021.

“The real estate market shows its maturity”, says José Carlos Martins, president of Cbic. He foresees an increase in the use of the FGTS (guarantee fund) for the granting of real estate credit, meeting a demand that resists the fall in income.

Martins says that Cbic has been looking for candidates for the Presidency of the Republic to defend the proposal to deduct part of the interest on homeownership financing from the Income Tax.

The measure, adopted in the United States, would be a way to increase funding numbers, he says.

The granting of credit by the SBPE (the main housing facilitator in the country) should fall 12% in 2022, compared to last year, while the FGTS should increase by 31%, according to Abecip (Brazilian Association of Real Estate Credit and Savings Entities) .

For Cbic, the numbers show that activity is more heated than market projections at the beginning of this year.

The research analyzed data from 197 municipalities, 26 of which were capitals, from all regions of the country. Some cities were evaluated individually or within their respective metropolitan regions.

Green and Yellow House

The numbers referring to the Casa Verde and Amarela properties dropped considerably in the 2nd quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year. According to data from Cbic, there was a drop of 36.5% in launches, 14.6% in sales and 15.1% in the final offer.

For Cbic, the data reflect the fear of entrepreneurs with the low purchasing power of the population and the high costs of construction. In the second quarter of this year, 36% of the properties launched met Casa Verde e Amarela —​​in the same period in 2021, 48% of the total units launched were launched.

Martins’ forecast, however, is that there will be an increase in contracts in the last months of the year, with numbers close to those of last year.

The expectation is based on the new rules of the federal housing program. The segment has shown recovery since June, when the expansion of the financing term and income of Casa Verde e Amarela began to materialize.