Widening sand heats up beach real estate market

The silhouette of skyscrapers projecting over the sea is a thing of the past. The widening of the strip of sand on Praia Central, in Balneário Camboriú (SC) has not only returned the sun to bathers, but has also encouraged investors and residents.

The properties on Avenida Atlântica, facing the sea, appreciated by 30% in the last year. Already the properties in the plant accumulate a monthly appreciation between 2.5% and 3%, according to December and January data from Sinduscon (Civil Construction Union) of the city. An apartment on the seafront can reach R$ 6 million.

“The completion of the work has become a showcase for Balneário Camboriú, which is once again a reference for investors from other states”, says Altevir Baron, market and marketing director at FG Empreendimentos, the developer responsible for part of the tallest buildings in the city. He cites Paraná, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo as examples.

Data from DataZap, the real estate intelligence arm of the ZAP+ group, points out that the expanded region went from a 27% lower demand for rental properties than the city average, in 2019, to being 8% more sought after.

“For some products, we already have a greater demand than supply, as in Avenida Atlântica”, says Baron, from FG, which has in its plans for the region the largest residential building in Latin America, with at least one hundred floors.

Owner of a real estate marketing agency and resident of the city, Luís Henrique Schappo, 35, saw the opportunity to also work as a broker, and is completing the paperwork to qualify for the role.

He says he works with two customer profiles. “The city has become very attractive for investors between 35 and 45 years old, with high purchasing power and looking for appreciation, and it also has agribusiness clientele, who are looking for spacious properties and want to enjoy the city”, he explains.

Marcus Araújo, executive president of Datastore, which specializes in market research, says that the expansion of beaches has already inspired projects in nearby cities, such as Itapema, Tijucas, Porto Belo, Itajaí and Balneário Piçarras.

Before starting a project of this magnitude, however, it is necessary to carry out studies on the environmental impact in the region, recalls Marcos Saes, director of environmental affairs at Aelo (Association of Urban Development and Subdivision Companies).

For him, the ideal is that there is greater planning in the verticalization of the coast, to avoid intervention in the strip of sand. “It is a warning for other regions. The market plays an important role in a non-predatory development, so that there is no shade on the beach at 1 pm”, says Saes, citing the case of Balneário Camboriú.

Larissa Gonçalves, economist at DataZap, says that the gains from the real estate appreciation in the region need to be balanced against environmental issues on the beaches and in their surroundings, since this is a long-term intervention with a wide impact on the region.

The capital of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, has already completed the expansion of the Canasvieiras beach and plans to add more resorts. According to a survey by DataZap, the average price of real estate on the beach, which before the expansion work was 4% lower than the average for the capital of Santa Catarina, grew 9% between 2019 and 2021, being 6% above the local average.

In the local real estate market for 21 years, broker Rafael Kappaun says that the widening of the beach has attracted young people from the technology sector to Canasvieiras, both for rent and for purchase, in addition to Argentine investors, a captive public in the summer.

Ilhabela, on the coast of São Paulo, also has plans to renovate its waterfront. According to the city’s mayor, Toninho Colucci (PL), the objective is not to create beaches that did not exist before, but to replace sand that was lost in recent decades in a segment of the island, between the Barra Velha and Vila neighborhoods.

“There are old photos that show stretches with a strip of sand of 30, 50 meters where today it is no more than five. And there are places that don’t even have sand anymore.”

The idea, according to the mayor, is to prevent Ilhabela from losing its tourist attraction, a sector that is its biggest employer, and also to ensure the safety of the local infrastructure.

“[O mar] has not yet directly compromised the properties, but if we don’t take action, it will indeed affect it”, says Colucci.

The enlargement also inspires works in the Northeast. On Iracema beach, in Fortaleza, the project underwent two fattening processes, between 2000 and 2019, and today the sand strip reaches 120 meters.

The last stage of the intervention also foresees the requalification of Avenida Beira-Mar, a point on the edge of the capital of Ceará where the main hotels in the city share space with residential buildings.

With an eye on the appreciation, the construction company Normatel builds two neighboring buildings in the region. One of them is the 32-story development called DC 360º, with 26 units of more than 500 m² each, for around R$ 8 million. The other is São Carlos, also overlooking the beach. There are 800 m² apartments and ten parking spaces, at more than R$ 12 million per unit.

Properties with this standard attract a new audience to Fortaleza, assesses economist Álvaro Carvalho, counselor at Corecon (Ceará Regional Economic Council).

According to the city hall, the objective of the work was to recover the beach area affected by coastal erosion, implement an urbanistically renovated space and generate income and opportunities for leisure and sport.

In Natal (RN), a work of R$ 70 million is planned for the fattening of Ponta Negra beach, the most famous in the capital of Potiguar. And in João Pessoa (PB), there is a plan to expand the strip of sand on at least four beaches: Ponta do Seixas, Cabo Branco, Manaíra and do Bessa.

Ivan Tonon, a real estate investor in Florianópolis, says that the success of these projects is linked to improving infrastructure, such as access roads to the beach, and offering services. “Beautiful and bathable beaches are in great demand, real estate appreciation is a consequence”, he says.