Guide
You pay part of the price during construction, directly to the developer, interest-free, with installments adjusted by a construction-cost index (the CUB). You get the keys. From then on the remaining balance is adjusted by inflation (IPCA) plus interest — or you take that balance to a bank, use a credit letter or pay it off. This page explains each step, what each acronym means, and has a simulator that uses Vivapark’s current price list, in reais or in US dollars. The model is the same for most new developments in Santa Catarina; what differs from one building to another is in the contract.
Every new development has a price list and a standard payment plan: how much is paid up front, how many monthly installments, how many balloon payments (semi-annual or yearly installments, also called reinforcements or intermediates) and whether there is a larger payment at key handover. Added up, that is the list price. Each installment is written in today’s money — and that is where the adjustment comes in, explained in the next section.
An example with Vivapark’s campaign terms, for a R$ 1,000,000 property: 2% down (R$ 20,000), 58% in 120 monthly installments (R$ 4,833 each) and 40% in 20 semi-annual balloon payments (R$ 20,000 each). Note that 120 monthly installments are 10 years: a good part of them falls after the keys, already in the IPCA + interest phase. That is why "what will the installment be down the road?" deserves a simulator, not a guess.
Outside the campaign, Vivapark’s list-price plans vary: 10% to 20% down, 50 to 120 monthly installments, semi-annual or yearly balloon payments and, in some buildings, a 10% to 65% payment at the keys. Each project page shows the plan for its entry unit, and the simulator below loads the exact plan of every available unit.
The developer reviews offers. In practice, negotiation at Vivapark is more flexible than the price list suggests: the plan can be reshaped (more up front, less monthly, balloon payments on dates that suit your year). What does not change is the adjustment rule.
While the building is under construction, every installment is adjusted by a construction-cost index. In Santa Catarina the standard index is the CUB — Custo Unitário Básico, the basic unit cost of construction — calculated and published every month by Sinduscon-SC (the state’s construction industry association), following standard NBR 12.721 and Law 4.591/64. It measures what it costs to build one standard square meter in the state: materials, labor, equipment and overhead. Other states commonly use the INCC, by FGV, which does the same calculation nationwide.
Why does the developer do this? Because it sells today something that will cost money to build over the next few years. If cement and bricklayers get 6% more expensive in a year, the money you pay has to keep up — otherwise the project does not close its books. The CUB is the fair way to do it: a public index, calculated by a third party, measuring exactly the cost the project faces. It is not interest. During construction the installments are interest-free; what exists is monetary adjustment.
How the math works: the adjustment applies to the outstanding balance — that is, to every installment still to be paid. If the CUB rose 0.5% in the month, every future installment gets 0.5% bigger. A R$ 4,833 monthly installment becomes R$ 4,857 the following month, and so on. Over three years of construction, with CUB around 0.45% per month, the installment rises roughly 17%. What has already been paid does not change.
Construction cost in the state. Published by the 5th business day of each month by Sinduscon-SC.
Every installment still to be paid, including those due after the keys.
During construction there is no interest: only the index adjustment.
Ends at delivery (occupancy permit). From then on the index changes — next section.
Good to know: if construction runs past the 180-day grace period, Brazilian courts usually replace the construction index with an inflation index (IPCA) from the delay onwards, so the buyer does not pay for the developer’s inefficiency. And if the CUB falls in a month — it happens — the installment falls with it.
With the building finished, the developer obtains the habite-se: the city’s occupancy permit, certifying that the building was built according to the approved project and can be lived in. Then comes the walk-through of the unit with you, the signing of the handover report and the keys — with the balance current or the bank financing approved.
To put the property in your name, three steps, usually in sequence:
| Step | What it is | What it costs (reference) |
|---|---|---|
| ITBI | Municipal transfer tax on the property. Paid by the buyer, before registration. | In Porto Belo, 2% of the higher of the purchase price and the city’s appraisal. Varies by city. |
| Deed or bank contract | Public deed at a notary — or, with financing, the bank contract itself serves as the deed. | Notary fees by the Santa Catarina fee table, proportional to the value. |
| Registration | Registration at the Real-Estate Registry (Cartório de Registro de Imóveis): the act that transfers ownership. Without registration the property is not yours. | Fees by the Santa Catarina fee table. |
Budget 3% to 4% of the property price for this step. Buyers who pay the post-key balance directly to the developer usually register the contract with a fiduciary lien (alienação fiduciária): the property is in your name, with the developer as creditor until payoff.
Once the building is delivered, adjusting by construction cost no longer makes sense. The outstanding balance switches to an inflation index — usually the IPCA, Brazil’s official consumer price index by IBGE, sometimes the IGP-M — and starts to carry interest, because now the developer is financing a finished property, as a bank would. In Vivapark contracts the rule is IPCA + 0.79% per month on the outstanding balance. In other developments in Santa Catarina the most common is between 0.8% and 1% per month, also on the balance.
This is when you decide what to do with the balance:
You keep paying the installments to the developer, now with IPCA + interest. No bank paperwork, no new credit analysis.
Move the balance to a Brazilian mortgage (Caixa, Itaú, Bradesco, Santander…), up to 35 years. Depends on your income and the appraisal — and the property is finished, which helps. Non-residents have fewer options; ask us.
Buyers with a contemplated consórcio use the credit letter to pay off the balance. FGTS savings also work, within the fund’s rules.
Pay the balance in cash at the keys — with your own funds or the sale of another property. Zero adjustment and interest from then on.
The number that matters: at the keys, your balance is the list price minus what you paid, all adjusted by CUB until then. The simulator shows that number for every unit.
You can prepay installments at any time — one, several or the whole balance. The discount for prepaying is usually small or none. Even so, prepaying is almost always worth it for another reason: what you prepay leaves the outstanding balance and stops being adjusted. Before the keys you stop paying CUB on it; after the keys you stop paying IPCA and interest. On a R$ 500,000 balance at IPCA + 0.79% per month, each month costs around R$ 5,000 in adjustment and interest alone. Prepaying R$ 100,000 saves a fifth of that every month, for good.
For many people, buying off-plan is an investment: the property is usually worth more at delivery than at the launch price list, because the construction risk is gone and the neighborhood around it has grown. After the occupancy permit and the keys you can rent it out (residential lease or short-term) or sell. Before delivery, selling is also possible through an assignment of rights (cessão de direitos): you transfer the contract to another buyer, with the developer’s consent — it usually charges a fee and vets the new buyer.
One caveat for those thinking of short-term rentals (Airbnb, Booking): the building’s bylaws and the owners’ assembly may restrict or prohibit short stays. Some Vivapark buildings tend to limit this to preserve their residential character. If that is your plan, ask before choosing the building — the answer changes the math.
Two laws organize off-plan purchases in Brazil. Law 4.591/64 (the Incorporations Law) requires the developer to register the incorporation memorial at the real-estate registry before selling any unit — that is what guarantees the project exists, has the land and has approval. It also created the patrimônio de afetação: the land and the project’s money are kept separate from the developer’s other business, so its other ventures cannot affect your building. Law 13.786/2018 (the Cancellation Law) brought clear rules for the contract and for withdrawing:
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Summary table | The contract must open with a summary: price, payment plan, adjustment index, post-key rate, delivery deadline, penalties, refund deadline in case of cancellation. It is the first thing to read. |
| 7 days to withdraw | A contract signed at a sales stand or outside the developer’s office can be undone within 7 days, with a full refund, brokerage fee included. |
| Construction delay | Grace period of up to 180 days beyond the deadline, if it is in the contract. Past that, you may cancel with a full refund, or keep the contract and receive 1% of the amount paid per month of delay. |
| Cancellation (your decision) | The developer may keep up to 25% of what you paid — or up to 50% if there is a patrimônio de afetação — plus the brokerage fee. The rest is refunded within the legal deadlines. |
Before signing, check:
Choose the project and the unit. The simulator loads the price and payment plan from the current price list (updated September 20, 2026), applies CUB until the month of the keys and IPCA + interest after, and shows the installment month by month, the balance at the keys and the total. The index assumptions are recent averages — change them freely to test scenarios. Switch to US$ to see everything in dollars at today’s rate (R$ 5.14 per US$ 1 (ECB, 18/09/2026)).
Assumptions in % per month. References: CUB-SC 5.54% over 12 months (≈ 0.46% per month), IPCA 4.22% over 12 months (≈ 0.35% per month). Future indexes are unknown: this is an estimate, not an offer.
Start from the list-price plan and change whatever you want: the negotiated price, how much up front, how many monthly installments, the balloon payments. In each line you can type the total, the amount of each installment or the percentage of the price — the other two adjust. Close this panel to go back to the list-price plan.
Want to prepay? Enter how much and in which month (a bonus, a sale, savings). The extra payment reduces the balance in that month and stops being adjusted or charged interest from then on. If extra payments bring the balance to zero, the plan ends there.
Loading the price list…
The simulator uses each unit’s list-price plan and assumes that balloon installments fall on months 6, 12, 18… from the down payment; that CUB adjusts until the month of the keys and IPCA after; and that post-key interest is charged on the adjusted balance and paid together with each installment. Contracts may differ (payment at the keys, grace periods, alternative index). The valid terms are those in the contract’s summary table and in the offer approved by the developer.
Because it is adjusted by a construction-cost index. In Santa Catarina most contracts use the CUB, calculated by Sinduscon-SC; in other states the INCC is common. The adjustment runs until the keys are handed over, so that the money you pay during construction keeps buying the same amount of materials and labor. It is not interest: during construction the installments are interest-free.
CUB (Custo Unitário Básico) is the basic unit cost of construction: what it costs, on average, to build one square meter in the state, following standard NBR 12.721 and Law 4.591/64. Sinduscon-SC publishes it every month. In September 2026, the average CUB for Santa Catarina was R$ 3,158.88 per m², up 0.24% in the month and 5.54% over 12 months. Historically it moves between 0.2% and 1% per month.
Once the building is delivered, construction cost no longer makes sense as an index, so the outstanding balance switches to an inflation index — usually the IPCA — plus interest on the balance. In Vivapark contracts it is IPCA + 0.79% per month. At that point you choose: keep paying the developer directly, move the balance to a bank mortgage, use a consórcio credit letter, or pay it off.
To the outstanding balance — which is the same as adjusting every installment still to be paid. What you have already paid does not change. That is why prepaying reduces the effect of the adjustment: less balance, less base to adjust.
Yes, at any time. The discount is usually small or none — the real gain is removing that amount from future adjustment and, after the keys, from interest. Before the keys you stop paying CUB on what you prepaid; after the keys you stop paying IPCA and the interest on that part of the balance.
The developer obtains the habite-se (occupancy permit) from the city, walks through the unit with you and hands over the keys once the balance is current (or the bank financing is approved). Then come the deed or the bank contract, the ITBI transfer tax and the registration at the real-estate registry, which put the property in your name.
Three costs: ITBI, a municipal transfer tax — in Porto Belo, 2% of the higher of the purchase price and the city’s appraisal —, the notary fees for the deed or bank contract, and the registration fee at the real-estate registry, both set by the Santa Catarina fee table. Budget about 3% to 4% of the property price for this step.
Sell, yes — even before delivery, through an assignment of rights (cessão de direitos); the developer must consent and usually charges a fee. Rent, after the habite-se and the keys. Short-term rentals (Airbnb and similar) depend on the building’s bylaws and owners’ assembly: some buildings prohibit them. Ask before buying if that is your plan.
Law 4.591/64 requires the developer to register the incorporation memorial before selling and allows the patrimônio de afetação, a ring-fenced structure that keeps the project’s money separate from the developer’s other business. Law 13.786/2018 requires a summary table in the contract (price, adjustment index, delivery deadline, penalties), gives 7 days to withdraw from a contract signed outside the developer’s office, caps the delivery grace period at 180 days and defines what the developer may keep if you cancel: up to 25%, or up to 50% with patrimônio de afetação.
The vast majority, yes: installments during construction adjusted by CUB (sometimes INCC), post-key balance by IPCA or IGP-M plus interest, and bank financing as an option at delivery. What changes from one project to another is the shape of the plan (how much up front, how many monthly installments, how many balloon payments, whether there is a payment at the keys), the exact index and the post-key rate. It is all in the contract’s summary table.
The contract and the installments are in Brazilian reais. You pay from abroad through an international transfer or a currency broker, converting at the rate of the day; a CPF (Brazilian tax ID, issued at the consulate) is required, and the contract can be signed remotely. The dollar option in the simulator uses today’s rate as a reference only — the amount in reais is what counts.
Choose the project and the unit: the simulator loads the price and the payment plan from the current price list. Then adjust the assumptions (CUB per month, IPCA per month, post-key interest) and the month of the keys. It shows the installment month by month, the outstanding balance at the keys and the total at the end. It is an estimate: nobody knows future indexes.
Pricila Santos, CRECI 43328-F SC. Broker based inside Vivapark: she knows each building’s plan and what the developer is willing to negotiate. Half of our buyers live abroad.
Sinduscon-SC — CUB/m² for Santa Catarina, published monthly (sinduscon-fpolis.org.br) · IBGE — IPCA (ibge.gov.br) · FGV — INCC · Law 4.591/1964 (real-estate incorporations and patrimônio de afetação) · Law 13.786/2018 (cancellation, summary table, delays) · ABNT NBR 12.721 (CUB calculation) · City of Porto Belo — ITBI (Municipal Law 2.145/2014) · USD/BRL exchange rate: ECB, 18/09/2026. Indexes are quoted with their reference month; this page updates whenever Vivapark’s price list changes. Informational content: it does not replace the contract or legal advice.