Four of the five most expensive cities per square metre in Brazil are in Santa Catarina. In September 2026, Balneário Camboriú stood at R$15,369 and Itapema at R$15,340, with Florianópolis and Itajaí close behind.

One state, on one short stretch of Atlantic coast, holds most of the top of Brazil's property market. Here is why the money keeps coming, and where I think the opportunity sits today.

A Disclosure Before We Start

Weigsding Investments markets residential projects by MJ7 Empreendimentos in Balneário Perequê, Porto Belo, and I have listings on this coast. You should know that before reading my view of it.

The Scarcity Is Real, and It Is Permanent

Balneário Camboriú went from R$6,873 per square metre in 2018 to R$14,906 in 2025 — up 117% in seven years. The explanation offered by the market is the simplest one in real estate: the seafront is limited and cannot be replicated.

That is the structural fact underneath every number in this article. Brazil has a long coastline and very few stretches of it with this combination: safety, infrastructure, mountains meeting the sea, an international airport within an hour, and a domestic buyer wealthy enough to pay for all of it.

Where the Money Went in 2025

Across Balneário Camboriú, Itapema, Itajaí and Porto Belo — four municipalities covering 490 km² — buyers committed R$13.47 billion in 2025, across more than 9,000 units.

That makes this small coastal strip the fifth-largest property market in Brazil by financial volume. One market analyst called it an anomaly: an extreme concentration of liquidity in a very restricted territory.

Liquidity is the part investors should notice. In most second-home markets you buy easily and sell slowly. Here, R$13 billion a year changes hands within an hour's drive.

Porto Belo: The Growth Story of the Decade

Porto Belo had 27,688 residents at the 2022 census. The 2026 estimate is 32,615 — up roughly 18% in four years, after growing more than 72% over the previous decade.

Three international sports brands chose it inside three months at the end of 2025. The PSG Academy opened at Vivapark in August 2026. An "Ecossistema Neymar Jr." is due in 2027 inside the Porto Belo Lagos development. The first Rafa Nadal Tennis Center in South America is scheduled to open in 2028 inside ALL Resort Club Residence.

Prices have followed. The average new-build square metre in Porto Belo went from about R$5,500 in 2020 to about R$12,500 in 2026, with premium areas around R$16,000, according to market-platform data. Units that actually sold in the first half of 2026 averaged R$14,712 per square metre.

For context: Porto Belo is still priced at roughly a fifth less per square metre than Balneário Camboriú next door, with the infrastructure arriving rather than already built. That gap is the investment case, and it is the reason my Brazilian and European clients keep asking about this particular town.

Right Now, Buyers Have Unusual Choice

Developers across this coast launched heavily into the demand. Porto Belo alone brought 18,899 units to market in 2025 and was holding just over 15,000 unsold new units by mid-2026.

For a buyer, that is leverage you rarely get in a scarce market: real negotiating room, genuine choice of floor, view and layout, and developer payment plans that no resale seller can match. Prices in these two towns moved broadly in line with inflation over the past twelve months after a decade of double-digit gains — which is precisely the kind of window that rewards buying the right building rather than any building.

The top of the market, meanwhile, has kept climbing. In Balneário Camboriú, apartments over 125 m² rose 16.9% in asking price in the first seven months of 2026, reaching an average of R$5.36 million. Scarcity bites hardest where supply cannot follow: the large, high-floor, sea-facing unit.

Three Things Moving in Buyers' Favour

Rates have turned. Brazil's base rate was cut to 13.75% in September 2026. Financing costs set the pace of this market, and the direction has changed.

Balneário Camboriú has unlocked new ground. A microzoning law passed in August 2026 allows towers of up to 150 metres along urban corridors away from the beachfront and the centre — a new development frontier in a city that had run out of land.

Itapema has the land. It launched roughly four times Balneário Camboriú's volume in 2025, and its population grew 3.17% in a year to 88,842. It is the natural overflow of a market that cannot expand at its centre.

What a Smart Buyer Checks Here

The developer's delivered buildings, not just their launches.

The specific unit. Floor, orientation and sea view drive resale on this coast more than the address does.

Whether the land is terreno de marinha. Much of Brazil's seafront belongs to the Union; owners pay an annual charge and a laudêmio of 5% of land value, excluding buildings, when they sell. Perfectly normal, worth knowing before you sign.

Your currency position. If you earn in euros or dollars, buying here is also a view on the real — and for many of my European clients, a favourable entry point has been exactly the point.

The Summary

This is the most expensive coast in Brazil, for reasons that are not going away: finite seafront, a wealthy domestic market, and infrastructure that keeps arriving. What has changed in 2026 is that buyers can choose, negotiate and take their time — which is not a condition this coast has offered often.

Looking at Santa Catarina? Contact us at info@weigsding-investments.com or message us on WhatsApp. We work in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French, and we know which buildings on this coast are worth your money.

This article is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Market data reflects the periods cited and will change. Past price performance is not a guide to future returns. Weigsding Investments markets projects by MJ7 Empreendimentos in Porto Belo.

Sources

FipeZAP, Índice FipeZAP de Venda Residencial, September 2026 report (prices per square metre and national ranking)
Gazeta do Povo, on Santa Catarina's position in the national market (7 March 2026)
Exame, on 2025 sales volume across the north Santa Catarina coast (28 January 2026), citing DWV data
ND Mais, on Porto Belo's market and prices (29 July and 15 September 2026), citing DWV data
ND Mais, on Balneário Camboriú's microzoning law (23 August 2026) and on asking prices by apartment size (20 August 2026), citing Loft data
ND Mais, on IBGE 2026 population estimates for Santa Catarina (13 September 2026)
IBGE, population estimates with reference date 1 July 2026
CNN Brasil (23 April 2026), ge.globo (26 November 2025), G1 SC (22 October 2025), Gazeta do Povo (22 November 2025) and Vokkan (December 2025, August 2026), on the Rafa Nadal, Neymar Jr. and PSG Academy projects
Agência Brasil, on the Copom decision and minutes (22 September 2026)
Ministério da Gestão e da Inovação em Serviços Públicos, "Terrenos de marinha"