São Paulo real estate market — prices, rental yield and trend

• Average price: $2,414 / m²
• Gross rental yield: 6.47%
• 12-month price change (USD): 14.52%
• Net rental yield: 5.5%
• Transaction cost: 10.5%
• Price basis: local-market average

São Paulo is one of the faster-moving markets Glopra tracks: the average residential square metre now costs $2,414, +14.5% in dollar terms over the last twelve months. That makes it the 184th most expensive of the 236 markets in the set. In local currency the same twelve months read +3.6%; the 10.9-point gap is the exchange rate, not the housing market.

What a buyer pays in São Paulo

The $2,414 figure is a local-market average across all residential property types: a flat in a prime district sits well above it, an older unit on the edge of the market well below. Buying costs — transfer tax or stamp duty, notary, registration and agency — come to about 10.5% of the price here. On a 100 m² apartment at the average price that is roughly $25,344 on top of the $241,370 purchase price. That is close to the 10.3% median across the set. Against the Brazil national average of $1,937, São Paulo carries a 24.6% premium — the gap between this market and the country as a whole. Among the other Brazil markets we track, Brasília at $2,067 is 16.8% cheaper, and Florianópolis at $2,691 is 10.3% dearer.

What it earns

A square metre lets for about $13.0 a month. Against a purchase price of $2,414 per square metre that is 6.5% gross, before tax. Both figures come from the same source and the same period, so you can check the arithmetic yourself. It ranks 59th of 269 markets by gross yield. Rental income is taxed at 15–25% — the rate is not a single number here. That is the difference between 4.9% and 5.5% net on the same property. The 5.5% net figure we publish uses 15%.

How the tax works. Flat 15% withholding on the gross rent, final at source, with no tax-free band (RIR/2018 art. 763); the resident progressive table does not apply. The rate rises to 25% if the owner is resident in a low-tax jurisdiction (Law 9.779/1999 art. 8), which is the upper end of the band. Source: planalto.gov.br.

Who can buy in São Paulo

Freehold; restrictions on rural and border land. That is the rule a foreign buyer meets first, not legal advice — check the current position locally before you commit.

How this figure is built

The price figure for São Paulo is built from asking prices from listings. It was last refreshed on 2026-10-17. We rate our confidence in this market’s data medium: the series is usable, but thinner or less current than our best-covered markets. We recompute every market the same way, which is what lets São Paulo be compared with a country average or another city.

Sources: FipeZap Venda + Locação Sep-2026 (same publisher, same city, R$/m²) · downloads.fipe.org.br. Snapshot: 2026-10-17.