Execution engineering redefines real estate underwriting in Brazil through 2028

The thesis the market still misprices

The Brazilian real estate market is going through a cycle in which construction competence has ceased to be an operational requirement and has become the main vector of competitive differentiation. With the Selic rate at 15% per year at the start of 2026, according to data reported by Metro Quadrado, the cost of capital imposes brutal selectivity on which projects move forward and which remain on paper. In this environment, mid-sized builders with a proven delivery track record, the ability to operate in specific niches, and execution discipline are occupying spaces that large traditional conglomerates have left vacant.

Companies such as Conata Engenharia, OCC Construções e Participações S/A, and Mundo Planalto illustrate this phenomenon from distinct yet converging angles. Each has built, in its segment, a value proposition anchored in project engineering, and this capability is redefining how institutional investors assess operational risk in the sector.

Abecip (Brazilian Association of Real Estate Credit and Savings Entities) projects that real estate credit in Brazil should grow approximately 16% in 2026, with SBPE-funded financing advancing roughly 15%. Meanwhile, CBIC (Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry) projects 10% growth in sales over the same period, driven by pent-up demand and credit injection from the new Tier 4 of the Minha Casa Minha Vida program, which covers families with monthly income up to R$12,000 for financing properties up to R$500,000. Available capital exists. The central question is where it flows, and the answer increasingly points to execution engineering.

How does differentiated construction capability attract institutional capital?

The Brazilian institutional investor has matured. Real estate funds, family offices, and asset managers no longer evaluate only location and projected GDV. Delivery track record, schedule predictability, and the ability to manage costs in an inflationary environment have definitively entered the underwriting matrix.

Conata Engenharia exemplifies this dynamic in emblematic fashion. The company is part of the Consórcio Saúde Guarulhos, winner of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the construction and infrastructure management of the new Children and Youth Hospital of Guarulhos, as reported by GRI Hub in February 2026. Hospital PPP projects demand a degree of construction sophistication that goes far beyond conventional building: they involve complex building systems, sanitary regulatory compliance, and integration between the construction phase and long-term operation. Conata's ability to compete and win this type of bid signals to the market a level of operational maturity that serves as a differentiator in attracting financial partners.

Differentiated execution engineering functions, in practice, as a risk mitigation mechanism. When a builder demonstrates recurring ability to deliver complex projects within predictable parameters, it reduces the risk premium demanded by investors and broadens the spectrum of available funding sources.

In the public infrastructure segment, OCC Construções e Participações S/A followed a similar trajectory. The company secured infrastructure contracts totaling R$168 million with the State Government of Pará between 2023 and 2024, with emphasis on urbanization and sanitation works, according to Agência Cenarium. The focus on highly complex urban infrastructure logistics, such as sanitation in Amazon regions, requires engineering competencies that few mid-sized builders possess. This positioning creates natural barriers to entry and gives OCC a privileged position to capture new cycles of public and private investment in the Northern region.

Mundo Planalto and Sidney Angulo: two models of value creation through engineering

If Conata and OCC represent execution engineering applied to infrastructure and PPPs, Mundo Planalto demonstrates how construction capability can sustain entirely new business models in the real estate segment.

The company is investing approximately R$1 billion in the construction of the Hard Rock Hotel Gramado, a development with 858 rooms operating under the fractional ownership model, with delivery expected in 2027, as reported by Correio Braziliense in October 2023. The project's scale is significant: it is one of the largest hospitality investments in southern Brazil. The viability of a development of this magnitude depends directly on the builder's engineering capability, both in the construction phase and in coordination with the international hotel operator.

The fractional ownership model adds a relevant layer of complexity. The fractional sales structure requires that the final product meet rigorous quality and specification standards, as each co-owner acquires the right to use an asset whose perceived value is directly tied to physical delivery. Engineering, in this context, underpins the entire commercial thesis.

From another angle, Sidney Angulo demonstrates how asset requalification engineering can create long-term institutional value. The E-business Park, a corporate complex led by Angulo, spans 160,000 square meters in São Paulo and attracts multinationals through retrofit projects and sustainability certifications, according to Exame in March 2024. Corporate retrofit represents one of the most promising frontiers in Brazilian real estate: the combination of structural requalification, energy efficiency, and ESG certifications transforms mature assets into investment vehicles compatible with the allocation criteria of real estate funds and international investors.

The intersection between institutional capital, via FIIs (Brazilian REITs), and asset requalification is a structural trend that the GRI Institute has been mapping through its meetings and research with sector leaders. The ability to execute retrofit projects with technical excellence and within predictable timelines is increasingly the factor that determines which assets can reposition themselves in the market and which become obsolete.

What does macroeconomic pressure reveal about engineering as a competitive advantage?

The 2026 macroeconomic scenario functions as a stress test for the sector. Eduardo Fischer, CEO of MRV Engenharia, has publicly advocated for adjusting the Minha Casa Minha Vida program caps due to inflation and the impacts of the Selic rate, which reached 15% per year at the start of 2026, as reported by Hora do Povo and Metro Quadrado in January 2026. Fischer's position highlights a fundamental tension: when the cost of capital rises, only builders with superior operational efficiency can preserve margins and keep projects viable.

This pressure creates a natural selection dynamic in the market. Builders that depend exclusively on favorable macroeconomic conditions to operate lose competitiveness. Those that have built advantages in process engineering, supply chain management, and delivery predictability can absorb shocks and frequently gain market share during periods of stress.

The expansion of Minha Casa Minha Vida's Tier 4, using Pre-salt Social Fund resources, broadens the addressable market for builders with the capacity to operate in the middle-income segment. Competition for these resources will be intense, and execution engineering will function as a selection criterion for both financial agents and end buyers.

For investors, the strategic implication is clear: real estate project due diligence must incorporate construction capability analysis as a central variable, not a peripheral one. Builders with verifiable delivery track records, experience in complex projects, and the ability to operate across multiple segments offer a superior risk-return profile in a high-interest-rate environment.

Strategic outlook for the 2026–2028 cycle

The Brazilian real estate cycle through 2028 will be defined by the convergence of credit availability, cost pressures, and execution capability. Data points to a market in quantitative expansion, with growing credit and projected rising sales, but selective in the qualitative allocation of that capital.

Builders like Conata, OCC, and Mundo Planalto represent a new generation of players competing through operational excellence in high-complexity niches. Leaders like Sidney Angulo demonstrate that requalification of existing assets can be as strategic as greenfield development. And executives like Eduardo Fischer signal the structural limits that the macro environment imposes on the sector.

Execution engineering has ceased to be a technical department and has become the center of the investment thesis. The GRI Institute will continue to monitor this reconfiguration through its meetings, research, and interactions with leaders shaping the future of Brazilian real estate. For the professionals and investors who participate in this community, the message is unequivocal: the ability to build well is, today, the primary currency in Brazil's real estate capital markets.