Haha funnily enough I'm currently preparing a press release on that very subject to send to the people who bought with us - just to keep them updated. Although as you might have noticed by my recent reply to Dotty regarding the mortgage market - I've got the new mortgage figures now - when I spoke to the reporter I only had the figures from September 2008, now I have January 2009.
Also, the % of GDP now is 4% - the figures I had at the time were 2% - still a tiny fraction compared to most markets.
Here is the news I've just finished and am about to send out:
Brazillian Government launches the "My House, My Life" plan
While the rest of the world is in the middle of the worst economic recession of almost a century, Brazil has taken steps to decrease the current housing deficit of over 8 million homes by as much as 14% by injecting 34 billion R$ into financing the construction of residential units around the country.
The demographic targeted by the new “My house, My life” plan are Brazilian families earning up to a maximum 10 times the minimum national wage – (currently R$ 465 per month).
In addition to financing construction of adequate housing in capital cities, the houses of participants in the programme will automatically be insured, can register their properties at the local notary with discounts of between 80% and 100%, and will have their mortgages guaranteed by the fund in case they lose their source of income. For families earning 3 to 5 minimum wages – the fund will guarantee up to 36 payments, from 5 to 8 minimum wages – 24 payments and from 8 to 10 minimum wages - 12 payments
Families may also apply for funding of up to R$ 23.000,00 per family towards the purchase of their home and will receive hefty discounts on interest rates for mortgage products. Interest rates for families earning up to 6 minimum wages which were as high as 8.16% p.a. will now be reduced to 6% p.a. – yet another incentive for the vast domestic market to purchase their own homes.
The government is also offering significant stimuli for developers to focus on this segment of the market. The processes by which developers apply for building licenses and funding have been de-bureaucratized. This applies for developers not only of primary residential developments but also developers of the infrastructure within the developments and in surrounding areas. Tax on many raw materials required for the construction of primary residences have been significantly reduced in an attempt to encourage developers to increase the quality of the houses being built and therefore increase their longevity
Here are the full details:
http://www.minhacasaminhavida.gov.br/