Bloomberg Línea — The dream of owning one’s own home is still present in the lives of Brazilians, and even amid the growing trend of digital nomads and new generations who seek more experiences than possessions, people still make homeownership a priority, and owning a house appears ahead of financial stability, family, religion, and even having children, when placed on a scale of importance, according to a survey by Instituto Datafolha.
According to the survey, commissioned by real estate platform QuintoAndar, on a scale of importance from zero to ten, home ownership scored 9.7, equalling one’s profession in terms of importance, and which were followed by financial stability (9.6), family (9.4), health insurance (9.2), religion (9.0), having one’s own business (8.8), owning a car (8.5), having children (7.9) and getting married (6.9).
“The idea of the census, which was one of the largest surveys on living in Brazil ever carried out, was to get to know more deeply how people live,” according to Bruno Rossini, QuintoAndar’s communications director.
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According to Rossini, the survey was a great “bubble-burster”. However, he recognizes that certain behavior changes, mainly according to age.
“A house is almost an identification for a Brazilian, along with their profession. A surprise for us was that it appears ahead of the health plan, especially in the times we are living in. What we believe is that, as a consequence of the pandemic, Brazilians want their own home, and also an outdoor space,” Rossini said.
The survey found that, on average, Brazilians who responded have houses with two bedrooms (47% of the total) and a bathroom (65%), while 56% have a garage and 53% have a balcony. On the other hand, only 4% of those interviewed said they had home office space, a growing demand amid the pandemic, and especially among the upper classes.
The majority of Brazilians (88% of those surveyed) live in houses, not apartments.
“There are certain regional issues that need to be taken into consideration. In metropolitan centers, for example, people live more in apartments because availability is greater than in other states, for example”, Rossini said.
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Whether in a house or an apartment, Brazilians tend to not live alone. The census revealed that 85% of people share the property where they live with someone, and of which 37% live with their children, 23% with their spouse, and 10% with their parents. Animals are also a companion for 61% of people, with 47% owning dogs, 22% cats, 5% birds, and 6% other pets.
Among those who live alone, 37% are over 60, 27% are retired, and 16% have some kind of disability.
The QuintoAndar survey interviewed 3,186 people aged 21 and over in all five regions of the country, as well as a representative sample from the metropolitan regions of Rio, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, and the macro-poles of Baixada Santista and Ribeirão Preto. The survey was conducted through personal interviews at points of population flow between October 11 and 21, 2021, and has a margin of error of two percentage points more or less for the total sample.
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