As property prices in Panama keep going up, it’s getting harder and harder to find pockets where there’s still strong upside and minimum competition.
Having watched trends and trajectories of real estate and various neighborhoods and cities in Panama for the better part of a decade…
Here are THREE areas I like for 2015.
Las Cumbres: This is a suburb about 20KM north of Panama City, or about halfway between the city and the Caribbean coast. It’s been a well kept secret by the few expats who have lived in the area for years and remains a mostly Panamanian neighborhood.
Last year, the decision was made to extend Line 1 of the metro to Las Cumbres, meaning that by April of 2015, it will take exactly 22 minutes to get to downtown Panama. The shortened commute time has already driven up commercial prices along the highway, but we haven’t seen a similar jump in pricing on the residential side yet.
I like the area for commercial real estate, particularly street-level retail and big box development. Look for new project starts on upper middle class single family home developments priced between $150,000 – $250,000.
Punta Barco: New roads mean new business, and the road from the Inter-American highway almost right down to the beach has finally been paved. With that project alone, three new real estate developments started almost overnight.
In Punta Barco, you can still get in at nearly ground-floor pricing and should do well in 2-3 years time once they are completed. The nearby beaches have an extremely solid track record.
Penonome: Penonome is all about mining, because it’s the last big town before all of the mining projects on the other side of the country (the Caribbean side). Watch for more commercial development in Penonome this year as the last 2-3 years of mining related infrastructure-building finally pays off.
The property in Penonome is surprisingly under-priced and offers lovely breezes and cooler temperatures, not unlike El Valle or Altos de Maria. The only drawback to investing somewhere like Penonome “before the masses” is that mostcommercial conveniences are still a good 30 minute drive away. And once Penonome gets their Riba Smith, Im moving 🙂