GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

Brazil construction cost per square metre rises to R$1,999.73 in September 2026

Building one square metre of housing in Brazil cost R$1,999.73 in September 2026, 6.81% more than a year earlier, lifting new-build and renovation budgets.

The facts

  • The national cost of construction reached R$1,999.73 per square metre in September 2026, after R$1,993.76 in August 2026, in the Sinapi system run by the Brazilian statistics institute IBGE. That is the series that takes the construction-sector payroll tax relief into account; the parallel series published without the relief stands at R$2,105.86.
  • Materials accounted for R$1,127.17 of that figure and labour costs for R$872.56.
  • The index, on a base of June 1994 equal to 100, rose 0.30% over the month, +6.81% over the twelve months to September 2026 and 5.72% so far in 2026. On the series without the payroll relief the twelve-month rate is 5.53%.
  • Material prices rose 0.28% in the month, after 0.35% in August 2026, while labour costs rose 0.33%, against 0.55% in August 2026 and 0.65% in September 2025, with two collective agreements signed in the period.
  • The Centre-West recorded the largest regional rise at 1.34%, influenced, the release says, by the pay adjustment for professional categories in Mato Grosso. The North-East rose 0.32%, the North 0.16%, the South-East 0.14% and the South 0.07%.
  • The FipeZap index, a composite of 56 Brazilian cities, put the average residential sale price at R$10,015 per square metre in September 2026.

What it means for your money

  • Build costs floor new-build asking prices. A square metre cost R$1,999.73 to build, 6.81% above a year earlier.
  • A build cost is not a sale price. The FipeZap composite of 56 cities put the average residential sale price at R$10,015 per square metre in September 2026, on a different basis from the cost figure.
  • For an owner already letting a Brazilian property, labour costs rising 0.33% in the month, down from 0.55% in August 2026, feed into maintenance spending and so into net rent.

What to watch

  • Both components slowed in September 2026. Materials at 0.28% came in below their 0.35% reading for August 2026, and labour costs at 0.33% below both August 2026 and September 2025, so the month's deceleration sits in both halves of the index rather than in one of them.
  • The Centre-West figure of 1.34% was, the release says, influenced by a pay adjustment in Mato Grosso, so this month's regional spread rests partly on one state's wage round.
  • Two series run side by side, with and without the construction-sector payroll tax relief. The figures here are the relief series; the other one reads R$2,105.86 per square metre and a twelve-month rate of 5.53%.

Sources: IBGE https://ftp.ibge.gov.br/Precos_Custos_e_Indices_da_Construcao_Civil/Fasciculo_Indicadores_IBGE/sinapi_202609caderno.pdf; FipeZap https://downloads.fipe.org.br/indices/fipezap/fipezap-202609-residencial-venda.pdf

Market data: Brazil