Jericoacoara dune-village casa

Jericoacoara has no paved streets. Getting there still means a dune-buggy or 4x4 transfer across sand from Jijoca, and the village itself is a grid of soft sand lanes lit at night by lamps rather than street lighting, because the whole place sits inside a national park. That protection is exactly why Jeri has stayed beautiful while the rest of the Ceara coast filled in, and why a simple casa here holds its value.

This one is a ninety-five square metre single-storey casa, three streets back from the beach: whitewashed walls, a terracotta-tiled roof, two bedrooms with air conditioning, two bathrooms, an open living-kitchen with a polished cement counter, and a walled garden with a shower, a hammock verandah and space for a small pool. Local carnauba wood in the ceilings and doors, ceramic floors, screened windows, a solar hot-water panel and a water tank. Three hundred metres to the sand and about the same to the main street of restaurants.

The wind is the local economy. From July to January the trade winds blow hard and clean, and Jeri is one of the top three kitesurfing destinations on earth — flat-water lagoons at Guriu and Tatajuba, wave riding at Malhada, and a downwinder culture that runs the whole coast from Cumbuco to Preas. Out of season it becomes a slow beach village of capoeira circles on the sand, forro at midnight and everybody climbing the Duna do Por do Sol at six for the sunset applause.

Practically, Jeri works better than its remoteness suggests. There are pharmacies, ATMs, a health post, small supermarkets and dozens of pousadas and restaurants doing everything from moqueca and grilled lobster to Italian and Japanese. Jericoacoara airport at Cruz opened in 2017 and is about an hour away with flights from Fortaleza, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte; Fortaleza itself is four to five hours by road.

Foreigners buy freely in Brazil — you need a CPF tax number, a lawyer to check the registry entry and the IPTU, and a notarised deed registered at the cartorio. In a national park buffer zone, confirm the building is licensed and that the plot is properly titled rather than posse. Rental demand is strong and dollar-priced in high season, so many owners cover their costs with three months of letting. Buy for the sand streets, the wind and the fact that nobody can build a high-rise next door.