Depending on where you look, Brazil’s property market is one facing a long future of stable growth; or it is a fast-inflating bubble ready to burst.
Take Luiz Eduardo Perreira, a treasurer with a multinational company in S?o Paulo. Like many moderately wealthy Brazilians, Mr Perreira (not his real name) got into property speculation by accident.
Three years ago he bought a new, 200 square metre apartment for him and his family in a smart area of S?o Paulo for R$700,000. He bought it “on the plan” – before construction began and takes delivery of the keys this month. There is just one thing: the flat is now worth R$1.4m ($789,000, £511,000, €623,000).