Real estate and long-term rental for a foreigner

Purchase of urban real estate

There are no citizenship restrictions. A foreigner purchases an apartment or house in the city on practically the same terms as a Brazilian.

What is needed:

• CPF — mandatory for any real estate transaction. A foreigner, including a non-resident, registers it at a Brazilian consulate abroad or already in Brazil — at the Receita Federal or a partner office, see Money in Brazil — currency exchange, cards, Pix, cash withdrawal
• Passport and the standard set of documents
• The transaction is formalized at a notary (cartório) and registered at the Registro de Imóveis — without registration, ownership rights do not arise

Residence in Brazil and a residence permit are not required to purchase urban housing.

Rural property — strict restrictions

It is regulated by Law 5.709/1971. On 23 Apr 2026 the Supreme Court (STF), unanimously, in cases ACO 2463 and ADPF 342, confirmed the constitutionality of these restrictions and revoked the clarification of the São Paulo court that allowed notaries to register such transactions without federal authorization.

Key conditions:

• Requirement of permanent residence of the foreign individual in Brazil
• Area limit — up to 50 'módulos de exploração' per person; up to 3 modules the purchase requires no authorization, from 3 to 50 it follows the rules established by the government (art. 3)
• Prior authorization for acquisition in areas classified as national security; by STF decision — prior authorization from the Ministério da Agricultura
• Registration with INCRA

You cannot bypass it by leasing: article 23 of Law 8.629/1993 extends the same restrictions to arrendamento — long-term leasing of agricultural land. This is done specifically so that agricultural contracts are not used as a workaround to acquire land.

Exception: a foreigner married to a Brazilian under the community property regime is equated with the spouse and is not subject to the limits of Law 5.709/1971.

Long-term housing rental

Formally citizenship does not matter, but in practice there is a barrier.

Fiador. The standard Brazilian lease contract requires a guarantor — a person with property in the same city who answers for the tenant's obligations. A newcomer does not have such a person. Workarounds used on the market:

• Seguro-fiança — insurance instead of a guarantor, issued by an insurance company; more expensive, but available
• Caução — a deposit, usually equivalent to several months' rent
• Título de capitalização — a capitalization title as a guarantee
• Renting directly from the owner without an agency — sometimes more flexible in terms

Housing formats:

• Aluguel por temporada — daily and monthly rental, the easiest entry, but more expensive
• Aluguel residencial — standard contract, usually for 30 months, regulated by the tenancy law (Lei do Inquilinato)
• Condomínio (building service fees) and IPTU (municipal property tax) are paid separately — they are often left out of the budget and come as an unpleasant surprise

Santa Catarina: how the island changes this

The above applies to the country as a whole. In Florianópolis it runs into the resort calendar: housing goes into temporada — daily rental for the high season — and a regular annual contract in December–February is harder and more expensive to find than in May. Temporada contracts fall under a different legal regime.

The regime, the difference between the island and the mainland and what changes in the high season are covered in Living in Florianópolis — the island through the eyes of a resident, not a tourist. The purchase tax in Florianópolis is 2%, with caveats: see Buying property in Brazil — transaction procedure and checks (in Russian).

Immigration status

Purchasing property in Brazil does not grant the right to reside and does not affect immigration status. The period of stay is calculated according to the rules of the visa regime regardless of whether the person has an apartment here, see How long you can stay in Brazil and how to extend the period.

This is the most common misconception on the subject.

Sources

1. T1Lei 5.709/1971 — purchase of rural land by a foreign resident: up to 50 módulos, up to 3 módulos without authorizationplanalto.gov.br · primary source
2. T1gov.br, Receita Federal — CPF for foreigners, residents and nonresidents, including within Brazilgov.br · primary source
3. T1MPF, 23 Apr 2026 — STF unanimously in ACO 2463 and ADPF 342: purchase of rural property by foreigners and companies with foreign control requires prior authorizationmpf.mp.br · primary source
4. T2Registro de Imóveis do Brasil — STF upheld restrictions on purchase of land by foreignersregistrodeimoveis.org.br · secondary source
5. T2Demarest — analysis of the STF decision on restrictions for foreignersdemarest.com.br · secondary source

T1 — primary: law, agency site, price list. T2 — secondary: press, specialist sites. T3 — other.