[Camelungi]

Hello Stuart,

Here at Fortaleza, North East Brazil, the credit crunch is not that serious yet.... there are other factors going on which are making problems ......the price of rice and beans has shot up because of the food situation world wide and farmers investing in BioFuel crops.....for the general population this is more of an issue.

I would say consumerism of the like we see in the US, UK and Europe which has been encouraged by Banks is somewhat different. The banks here didn't lend money to uncle tom cobbly and all fuelling a huge consumer boom. A large part of the population need to have better incomes as they barely manage. Incomes are rising but only slowly. lending is starting to become popular and I suppose this is why shops and trading seem to be busy...but so is crime. how the credit crunch from abroad will affect here is hard to say. Looking at the news daily at what is happening to Freddie Mack and Fanny Mae.....Some financial experts are starting to stare into the financial abyss. In modern times we do not have a similar scenario to look at with all same the current problems with high cost of oil and gas. Shipping cheap goods around the world no longer looks like a good deal. If the US Government makes wrong decisions or is powerless against huge financial problems - the knock on effects world wide could be very great. But for now the credit crunch is only just biting and I suppose will only effect tourists who cannot afford to pay the air tickets etc and make do with places that are closer to home. Investors whose currency is falling against the Reais will probably look elsewhere or wait till things become favourable. If Oil prices do not drop and become more realistic it will make air travel unrealistic....It will drive foreign tourists away and the developments which have been built around this will suffer.

I live here but have no intention of selling up.

Regards

Originally Posted by sturio

Hi all.

I'm a British journalist with Reuters news in Rio de Janeiro and considering writing a story on whether the "credit crunch" and softness in the UK/US/European markets is affecting the second home market, such as Brazil's.

I'd be interested to hear peoples' experiences on this, whatever they may be. For instance, has there been a slowdown in the hot northeast Brazil market? Are some people considering selling up here because of house price/mortgage worries back home? Any worries that rising fuel prices are going to make it more expense to get here, hurt the rental market etc.? Have too many big condo/villa developments been built? Or is property so cheaply priced here that it remains attractive despite the downturn elsewhere?

Thanks in advance,
Stuart