Slice of paradise.

Peak's Island is a small, private island and part of the 365 islands that form the Angra dos Reis archipelago, 150 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's yours for just US$5 million. Sotheby's, the U.S. auction house, is handling the transaction. In December 2006, the company began looking for clients in the Brazilian luxury real estate market, where prices average $1 million. Rival auction house Christie's has also jumped into this sector, teaming up with Sao Paulo real estate company Coelho da Fonseca, which focuses on luxury properties. "We were testing the luxury real estate market, and we eventually listed with Sotheby's, which saw in Brazil the potential it saw in Russia and Mexico: a revaluation of real estate after economic stabilization set in," says Carlos Carbone, now president of Sotheby's Brazil. Carbone and two partners invested $3 million setting up shop to become the auction house's representative in Sao Paulo. In five years, the group wants to have 10 offices up and running across the country focusing on luxury condominiums in the big cities as well as summer homes for both Brazilians and for foreigners. "Brazil is still cheap for the rest of the world. An island like the one in Angra would cost 10 times more if it were closer to the United States or Europe," Carbone says. "The presence of Sotheby's and Christie's in Brazil goes to show how we are now standing out on the world map," says Fabio Rossi, director for marketing at Latin American real estate company Secovi. "One of the main reasons, besides economic stability, is that Brazil is closer to the world in terms of the number of flights, which have risen over the last few years."