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A new President, new hope for change, and the prospect of a re-invigorated United States of America have brought a fresh wave of optimism to a world facing the biggest economic downturn in a lifetime. But even the newly-elected Barack Obama has acknowledged that there is no miracle cure for the woes his country faces in the next couple of years, and has predicted a long, hard road ahead as the US economy fights its way out of recession.

Meanwhile, Brazil has been quietly plugging away on its own, with growth in the economy seemingly continuing, and remaining largely unaffected by the credit crunch. The Financial Times recently described the situation in the country as ‘maintaining largely business as usual’. In 2007, the Sao Paolo stock exchange expanded by 93 per cent, while its counterpart in London shrank.

No country is completely immune to the global slowdown, but Brazil is in a far healthier position to emerge quickly and strongly from it than other developed economies. While business activity has slowed somewhat in the past year, this is only to be expected in the current global climate – in fact, some of this is down to the fact that some large Brazilian companies are quoted on the Wall St. stock exchanges. Some of the major public works scheduled for this year in order to bring Brazil’s infrastructure up to developed-country status are being put on hold, but otherwise there are significant signs of optimism.

Brazil’s banks have healthy cash reserves in place, and the country as a whole is far less ‘leveraged’ than other nations, meaning the total level of borrowing in the country is lower and allowing Brazil to ride out the economic instability more comfortably.

All of which makes for an attractive picture if you are looking to buy property in Brazil. One of the changes in the overseas property market that has been caused by the credit crunch has been that fewer destinations are touted as investment hotspots. At a time when fewer people have the spare cash to invest, and many of the previous investor havens are now looking to lifestyle buyers as their future. Brazil could well be that rare thing that ticks both boxes.

So much so, in fact, that it has prompted one of the most celebrated and successful British sportsmen in recent times to buy there. Chris Hoy, one of the stars of the British Olympic track cycling team, has just bought a property on a new off-plan development in the north-east of the country as a retreat from the punishing training schedules of a professional athlete.

With the north-east coast of Brazil being just a six-hour flight from the UK, the country is a realistic choice for both the investment and lifestyle buyer. If the economy continues to weather the global slowdown the prospects for those buying now will be looking rosy in just a few years.