Cumbuco–Brazil’s Next Opportunity

Cumbuco is my favorite little beach town along the northeast coast of Brazil. This was the place I went to relax and spend time if I had a free day during a scouting mission in the north-east of Brazil.

This is a little beach town 30 minutes west of Fortaleza. When I was there, it was 84 degrees Fahrenheit…with a cooling breeze coming in off the ocean. A very relaxed beach-town vibe here. Cumbuco has an Internet caf, hotel, and several guest houses, but it's still a local town, kids playing soccer…cobbled streets…

Although it's a relaxed little beach town at the moment, it is so close to the city and has such great beaches that I think it won't be long until the foreign market arrives. Norwegians are the only foreigners buying around here right now, but once North Americans discover this town, I think it's going to boom, big-time.

Since January 2008, I have been telling readers how major European developers and investors had been quietly snapping up pieces of land for major resort development on the stretch of coastline around Fortaleza. It's not so quiet anymore. New developments are springing up everywhere, and Cumbuco will be the first area to the west of the city to see major development.

Word is out. A major Portuguese resort and golf course developer Vila Gale has started construction of its golf course. The project, Cumbuco Golf, will include five-star hotels in the 450-hectare site. Next door, a Spanish group has launched a 990-unit project. The Spanish group's neighbor is a project by a major Brazilian group of 1,400 units. These major developers will seriously raise the bar in the area, and their marketing budgets and muscle will sell Cumbuco to a whole new market.

In five years' time, this sleepy beach town will be barely recognizable. Soccer-playing kids will compete for space on the cobblestone streets with foreigners browsing in the shops or on their way to dine in the new restaurants that will open during the boom. Golf carts carrying golfers will be as common a sight as dune buggies carrying windsurfers.

Visitors will come in droves to these new resort properties, invading what is now this sleepy little town. Little houses in the town center will be converted to cafs, restaurants, bars, and boutiques. Very soon they will have a commercial value that they don't have today. Buy one of these little houses in a central location and look for prices to double in the next three years.

As the town develops, more foreigners will want to have it all: be right on the beach and a short stroll to the buzz of the town center. Beachfront sites within proximity to the town center will be snapped up for their development potential. I expect beachfront condo prices within the town center to appreciate by 50% over the next three years.