News

Author: Susan Emmett .
Sourced: The Times.
Published: 1 June 2007.

 British investors are slowly discovering a low cost paradise, the things the British know about Brazil could probably fit on a piece of paper the size of Gisele Bündchen’s bikini – it is a country in South America where flip-flop-wearing people dance the samba, play football, burn down the Amazon rainforest and do unmentionable things with wax. But beyond the clichés, property buyers are discovering that there are new opportunities in parts of Brazil that never make it on to the television news or the catwalk. Take Natal in northeast Brazil, for example. Sunshine is guaranteed all year round, the cost of living is low and property prices are rising. It is the biggest city in Rio Grande do Norte, the part of Brazil that sticks out into the Atlantic and the closest point in South America to Europe. Those who have not heard of it yet soon will. Thanks to a huge marketing campaign by the Brazilian tourist board, the number of foreigners visiting Rio Grande do Norte grew by 130 per cent to 1.7 million in 2004. Thomson now flies direct to Natal from the UK and a new airport is due to be completed in 2009. Yet, despite the boom in tourism, property is still cheap by European standards. You can buy a beach house for less than £60,000 and investors, such as Christine Lea, are pouring in. “We knew that northeast Brazil had the best climate. We realised that British tour operators were going into the area, and when that happens property-seekers follow,” she says. There is still plenty of beach on which to lay your towel. Brazil has a long coastline and some of the most spectacular beaches are in the northeast. Natal has been particularly blessed with Ponta Negra and Pipa. Ponta Negra, Natal’s beach hotspot, was little more than a fishing village until the 1990s when foreigners, mostly Portuguese and Italians, started investing in the area. Hotels, restaurants and shops opened as tourism flourished. The 4km (2½ mile) beach is framed by the Morro do Careca (Bald Man’s Hill), a landmark sand dune. The city itself is still relatively quiet. There are no skyscrapers, the atmosphere is relaxed and crime is low. The surrounding area is also a draw. Pipa, regarded as one of the best beaches in the country, is just a day trip away.