Why invest in Rio de Janeiro??

The real estate market in Rio de Janeiro has seen virtually uninterrupted growth over the last 50 years, and has been especially strong since the mid-nineties. That’s when the government restructured the economy by introducing what has turned out to be the most stable currency in the country’s history. As a result, more and more foreign buyers have chosen to invest in Rio’s booming real estate market.

Brazil is a developing economic superpower whose economy and currency have shown remarkable strength and resilience over the last 15 years. In the early years of this decade, a severe debt and currency crisis devastated Brazil’s neighbors, but Brazil was an oasis of economic strength in the midst of it, its currency, the Real (“hey•AL”), unaffected.

Thanks to the underlying strength of the economy, Brazil again proved the exception during the recent downturn. It was less severe here than in many other parts of the world, and Brazil’s was one of the fastest of the world’s economies to return to growth. While a housing bust crippled much of the world market, real estate prices in Rio never stopped rising.

Modern Brazil is not just economically stable, but politically stable. When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known to all as Lula, assumed the presidency in 2003, there were fears that this left-wing ex-union leader would pursue the old protectionist, socialist, anti-market policies that had once soured foreign investors on South America. But Brazil today is staunchly democratic, and Lula’s pro-market, globally integrated policies have spurred a dramatic increase in foreign investment.

The city of Rio de Janeiro continues to gain importance on the global stage, not only as one of the world’s top tourist attractions but also as a host of large-scale sports and political events. In 2014 Brazil will host the FIFA World Cup, the second-largest sports event in the world. Rio will be the principal site of the Cup, hosting games in all phases of the tournament. The final will be held at Rio’s Maracanã stadium, the most storied venue in all of football.

As the whole world knows, two years later Rio will host the 2016 Olympic Games — the first time the Games will be held in South America. The event will be a huge boon to Rio’s infrastructure and already thriving economy. Local and foreign investment on a massive scale will update the city’s infrastructure to the most modern standards. Modernized infrastructure. Growing international attention. Increased foreign investment. Heightened tourist demand. It is not hard to deduce from these positive trends the direction Rio’s already booming real estate market is heading. These days, The Marvelous City is a Marvelous Investment too.