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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The point of Corumbau : a case study in emerging market (Brazil) real estate development feasibility analysis

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

In 2003, Renata Oliveira, a young Portuguese architect, has re-discovered the Point of Corumbau in Bahia, Brazil, and, like the Portuguese adventurers who had discovered Brazil 500 years earlier in the same location, found it to be an area that is wild, beautiful and undeveloped. It is also sitting right at the edge of perhaps the most promising resort and second home real estate market in the world: the Northeast coast of Brazil. The case challenges students to conduct market and project feasibility analysis in an emerging market environment, with data and contextual information supplied in the case. It considers the effectiveness of such analysis, and raises questions about the usefulness of time-series data in markets that are changing in fundamental ways, the importance of macro- and international economics in weighing real estate investments, the methods available for evaluating emerging market risk, the challenges of managing development and construction in a foreign environment, and the role, if any, for a developer's personal vision in the value creation system. Part II of the case allows students to re-consider these questions in the light of subsequent events. At the same time, the case examines two of the most exciting real estate markets in the world today: Southeastern Brazil's urban housing market, and the resort and vacation home market of the coastal Northeast.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Clayton, Paul B., S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Lester C. Thurow.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42014
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/42014

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Clayton, Paul B., S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The point of Corumbau : a case study in emerging market (Brazil) real estate development feasibility analysis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42014