Where to invest on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte: Gostoso, Touros and the stretch down to Natal

People looking for property on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte usually start by choosing a town, when the thing that really changes is the stretch of coast. São Miguel do Gostoso and Natal are a little over a hundred kilometres apart, and in that distance the buyer changes three times.

São Miguel do Gostoso: a small village with international demand

Gostoso is small and it lives on wind. A good share of the holiday rental demand is foreign, people who stay for weeks because of the kitesurfing, and that holds up a better nightly rate than a beach that only fills in the local summer.

The price per square metre moves a lot with distance from the centre and from the beach. A house in a gated development, a plot at the entrance to town and a commercial unit on Rua da Xepa are three different markets inside the same town.

Touros and around: bigger plots, building more likely

Further up the coast there is more land and more projects at an early stage. This is where you can still buy real size, and also where you are more likely to be buying to build rather than to use the following month.

If you have the appetite for a building site, the numbers here are the best on this coast. If you do not, this is where the regret lives.

Natal and Ponta Negra: liquidity and fewer surprises

Flats and apartments in Ponta Negra are a different category: more liquid, easier to rent all year round, with less character and thinner margins. They work well if you want the property to run by itself, with a management company looking after it.

It is the most conservative option on this list, and there is nothing wrong with that.

How I would compare them

Before comparing prices, compare how many times a year you will actually use the place, and whether you are willing to manage a building site or a guest. That rules out half the options before you look at a single listing.

Then look at the whole portfolio on the map. Seeing the prices spread across the territory explains it faster than any article, including this one.