Beautiful beach in Brazil

Joao Pessoa may be Brazil’s top retirement destination—an overlooked but beautiful and affordable city. It’s warm and sunny year-round…and ideal for younger, health-conscious retirees.

Joao Pessoa is the capital of the state of Paraíba. It’s one of the oldest cities in Brazil’s Northeast and home to 700,000 inhabitants. It’s the most easterly point in Brazil, known as “The city where the sun rises first.” The French, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish all vied for the city at various stages, trying to control the lucrative sugarcane industry in the area.

Located 75 miles from Recife and 110 miles from Natal, Joao Pessoa has 1,730 acres of forest, providing a green backdrop to almost 25 miles of beach. Here you’ll find some of the nicest city beaches I’ve seen…and beachfront properties are affordable.

Despite a large population and all the big-city conveniences (hospitals, shopping malls, hypermarkets, hardware stores, car showrooms), Joao Pessoa feels like a small, friendly town. That’s partly due to the helpful locals. They’ll chat to you in supermarket lines and point you in the right direction when you can’t locate a building, even if you don’t speak Portuguese.

The pace of life is tranquil, too. Best of all, the crime rate in Joao Pessoa is the lowest of any state capital in Brazil. I felt completely safe here.

One attractive feature is height restrictions for buildings facing the boardwalk. Aside from a handful of older, higher buildings, the boardwalk is limited to three to five stories. That gives the boardwalk and beach area a special charm, as well as giving ocean views to taller buildings behind the boardwalk.

Social life here centers on the boardwalk, which runs for about 16 miles. Kiosks serve drinks and snacks and restaurants close by specialize in churrascaria (a mix of barbecued meats), fish and Italian food.

Joao Pessoa is a favored retirement destination for Brazilians from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other towns and cities in the Northeast. Many professionals and former civil servants choose the comfort and safety here over their own hometowns. Many of these retirees are younger and seek a healthy lifestyle…and you can certainly find that here.

The sun rises just after 5 a.m. and the city springs to life. The road beside the boardwalk is closed to traffic from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., accommodating the steady stream of joggers and walkers out for some early-morning exercise and fresh ocean air (the air in the city is reputedly some of the cleanest worldwide).

In the evenings, family groups gather, teenagers rollerblade and couples stroll hand-in-hand. Some of the boardwalk kiosks serve fresh fruit salads and coconut water, as well as fruit shakes made with guarana and açai berry, for an added nutritional boost.

The Property Market

Aside from Brazilians, you’ll find some Europeans here, but it really is off the radar for Americans. In fact, the few Americans I met had Brazilian partners. Retirees from other Brazilian cities and locals drive the property market.

And that property market is a fast-moving one, with the best units snapped up quickly even before pre-launch sales start. I had my eye on one development in a prime boardwalk location. The property deed had not yet transferred to the developer, there was no advertising—yet most of the units had already sold.

Despite the city’s many advantages, property prices run around $172 to $230 per square foot on average. Prime city boardwalk properties cost up to $287 per square foot. That’s significantly less than other locations in Brazil, including Fortaleza, Recife or Maceio.

The resale market here is strong, too. Although not experiencing a real estate boom or frenzy, property prices have increased steadily year after year in the city, and are projected to continue doing so for at least the next five years.

The most exciting city neighborhoods from a property perspective are Altiplano and the beach areas of Cabo Branco and Bessa.

Cabo Branco is an exclusive neighborhood bordering the boardwalk. The beach here is a beautiful curve of light sand wrapped around the sparkling blue ocean. Between the boardwalk and the beach is a fringe of protected palms and greenery, concealing the kiosks from view when you’re on the sand. This quiet residential area mixes low-level condo blocks and spacious individual homes.

A 462-square-foot apartment between the boardwalk and the forest in Cabo Branco is $62,535. The unit comes fully furnished and is suitable for short-term rental, and the building will have hotel-style amenities.

Bessa is not as developed as Cabo Branco, and some side streets are still packed sand. It attracts a mix of arty bohemians and middle-class professionals. New boutique hotels and luxury shops are springing up, along with high-end developments. The city’s bigger supermarkets and mega-malls are close to Bessa, too.

A 1,969-square-foot apartment with three bedrooms, two parking spaces and a beautiful terrace, overlooks the beach and is selling for $172,020. This is a true beachfront property—there is no boardwalk, and you walk straight from the building onto the sand. See: www.brazilianpropertyshop.com.

Altiplano is an upscale residential neighborhood with many high-end homes and a cultural center. The municipality of Joao Pessoa released beachfront tracts of land here for development in September of last year. For 20 years, there was an embargo on developing this prime location. There’s an increasing level of excitement about what the next five years will bring to Altiplano. There’s talk of hotels, shopping malls, resorts and private schools, as well as beachfront and residential development.

I think this is shaping up to be a good area for investment, if you get in early. I’m following it closely and watching out for future developments, particularly beachfront and resort-style ones that would interest investors.

An upscale project by a Swiss developer currently under construction in Altiplano offers 3,572-square-foot apartments for $573,402. That gets you a whole floor to yourself, and some of the finest finishings in the city. A large two-story home in need of some remodelling, set in a 1/4-acre plot, has a price tag of $258,031. It has a lot of potential.

I was surprised at the size of apartments in Joao Pessoa. Around 2,700 square feet is common, and some developments offer 5,380-square-foot apartments. There’s a strong demand for these larger, luxury properties.

Retirees here don’t seem to downscale. They appreciate spacious surroundings and enough room for family and friends. Investors and second-home buyers buy the smaller apartments. I expect that will change with increasing numbers of U.S. and Canadian retirees, who usually don’t want the maintenance and care of such large spaces.

I stayed in a recently-constructed condo building one block back from the beach that has smaller units. Most have European owners who rent them out short-term when they aren’t there.

If you’re searching for tranquility, safety, an active healthy retirement and year-round warm sunshine, you can put Brazil on your list. Just make sure it’s Joao Pessoa you head for.

For information on properties in Joao Pessoa, e-mail John Curtis at: joaopessoa@pathfinderinternational.net.

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A Beautiful Beach Home For Less Than $180,618

Driving along the section of coast south of Joao Pessoa, you’ll find an abundance of secluded, pristine beaches. This is where I discovered my favorite beach in Brazil, Coqueirinho. It has year-round warmth, white sand, sapphire water…and an added touch of luxury.

At Coqueirinho, colored cliffs are the backdrop to an open-air beachside restaurant, the perfect place for an alfresco lunch. We shared a tasty selection of appetizers and fresh-cooked fish while we relaxed in the tranquil setting.

A 6,458-square-foot lot beside the beach has an asking price of $183,488. It is the only beachfront property we could find, despite an extensive search. There is one future beachfront development planned, which I’ll keep you updated on.

Set back from the beach on a hill is a residential gated community with 4,306-square-foot lots from $50,458. The lots have ocean and forest views, and the master plan includes a swimming pool and sports facilities. Building costs run around $80 per square foot, so a 2,422-square-foot property would cost $180,618.

The beach here is uncrowded, with plenty of space for stretching out and sunbathing. What makes Coqueirinho Beach perfect is the cosmopolitan touch of tented massage tables and spa treatments on the beach itself…plush day beds…and cool world music in the background.

This touch of luxury gives Coqueirinho the edge for me, creating such a serene atmosphere that you can’t help but relax.

For more information on properties in Joao Pessoa and Coqueirinho, e-mail: joaopessoa@pathfinderinternational.net.

Editor’s Note: Margaret Summerfield is a Director of Pathfinder (International Living’s preferred real estate advertising partner), which focuses on opportunity for gains in strategic pockets around the world-before most folks have even heard of them.