Making Sense Of The Panama Property Market
Markets In Flux
Aug. 14, 2009
Panama City, Panama
PLUS:
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Global Real Estate Profits Summit
We're making plans for Lief Simon's Global Real Estate Profits Summit, here in Panama City, where Lief is planning to assemble the top 16 international real estate investing professionals we know, October 15-17.
Over these two-and-a-half days, Lief and his A-list team of global real estate investing experts are going to show you where, when, and how to position yourself for success in the international property arena long term.
This is the best time in 10 years to be a buyer. Lief and his team will show you why and where.
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Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
My year in Paitilla has taught me that high-rise living isn't my thing. I've had my eye out since shortly after we moved in to our brand-new Vista del Sol tower apartment last summer for a house in Casco Viejo. The older, the better.
Four months ago, we found one, on a quiet street with a centuries-old stone church on the corner, fully and carefully restored, with shuttered windows and doors, plus balconies and a patio, even a small back garden and private parking. For me, it was love at first sight. We made an offer to rent.
"No way," replied the owner. "I won't rent the place for that amount."
No problem, we told him. We'll keep looking.
Two weeks ago, the owner got back in touch to say he'd like to accept our offer if it's still on the table. We moved in yesterday.
Stories like this are increasingly common. Some Panama City owners are in denial. They don't want to admit that the market has turned and are sticking hard to last year's pricing. Others don't care. Investors from Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere who've put their capital into hard Panama City assets don't need to sell or even to rent. They're happy to have their money in a market they perceive as safe and stable long-term. They're not so interested in listening to offers.
But American investors are increasingly open-minded. In many cases, their portfolios have taken big hits. They're looking to their Panama holdings for some cash flow or capital return. They're ready to talk. This is true not only with rentals, as in the case of our Casco Viejo house, but also with sales. You see "Distressed Sale" and "Reduced To Sell" signs for the first time in 10 years in Panama City real estate agency windows now, and agents in this city are, again, for the first time in a long time, going hungry.
Meaning this is probably the best time in a decade to be a buyer in this market.
But is it time to buy...or just to look? Will prices fall further, for sales, for rentals?
And what about Panama beyond the capital? What's the state of this country's coastal and interior land markets? Have values throughout the country softened as much as they have in Panama City?
Panama remains one of the most appealing real estate markets in the world, a recognized safe haven. The smart money continues to migrate here. But what, exactly, does it make sense to shop for today?
And what if you're looking not for an investment but a place to live? Should you, in that case, think about buying or renting?
To help us understand this fast-moving and still-expanding marketplace (worldwide financial meltdowns notwithstanding), I've invited three people with long experience buying, selling, and renting in Panama to participate in a candid, insider conversation. No spin, no color, no promises, just honest discussion among three of the savviest Panama property investors I know.
Specifically, I've asked resident global real estate investing expert Lief Simon, who has been a buyer, a seller, and a landlord in Panama City for nearly 10 years; Scott Taylor, an investor-friend who has focused his attention on pre-construction opportunities in this city for the past four years; and Rebecca Tyre, a Canadian who took up residence in Panama about four years ago, to join me for a special "State of the Panama Property Market Teleconference" next Thursday, Aug. 20.
We'll kick off at Noon EDT. We'll speak honestly and openly about our personal experiences as property investors in Panama over the past decade, and we'll share details of our current holdings, as well as our plans for exit. We'll begin with a from-the-scene look at the Panama City pre-construction and resale apartment market. Scott has agreed to share details of his current strategies both for buying (yes, Scott continues to invest) and selling.(If you invested in a pre-construction unit at some point in the past and are taking delivery of it now, what should your exit strategy be? How do you find a buyer?)
Then we'll talk about renting in the Panamanian capital. Rebecca, who rented in Panama City for two years, then moved, two years ago, to the interior of this country, to the small coastal town of Las Tablas, is right now in the market again for an apartment in the capital. "What a difference two years have made," Rebecca explains. "In those 24 months, prices have, in some cases, quadrupled."
But that's not the full story. For it is possible, Rebecca is finding, still, to get a good deal. Again, she has agreed to share details of her own strategies for sourcing a comfortable apartment in a good location even if your budget is modest.
Finally, we'll consider Panama beyond its capital. Lief will talk about opportunities on offer on the coast and in the highlands. "I had an e-mail the other day," Lief reports, "from a developer in Boquete. This largely American-driven market is being harder hit, perhaps, than any other in the country as a result of U.S. market woes. This guy who wrote to me the other day is looking to sell his land for the same price he paid to buy it more than four years ago."
Lief will share further details during our discussion next week.
Panama Circle Members, of course, are invited to listen in as our guests. We'll be in touch separately to send you dial-in details.
In addition, past buyers of our Live and Invest in Panama Conference Kit, as well as attendees at Lief's upcoming Global Real Estate Profits Summit, will have free access to this timely conversation.
If you're neither a Panama Circle Member nor a registered attendee for Lief's conference, go here now to arrange to be on the line for our discussion next Thursday.
Kathleen Peddicord
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"Kathleen, I, too, have similar good feelings about Granada, Nicaragua. However, I must take exception to your remark about the 'specter of the Sandinistas hanging over the country.' I guarantee you that you would not be as enamored of Nicaragua if the U.S.-sponsored reign of terror fomented by the Somoza family was still in place in that country. The Sandinistas were instrumental in breaking that horrendous dictatorship. Sandino vive."
-- Bob J., Costa Rica
"Is there a discount for a second person attending Lief's Global Real Estate Profits Summit with me?"
-- Jeanette K., United States
Indeed.
If you're a Preferred Reader on our Pre-registration List, and you register before Aug. 31, the most you'll pay to join Lief and the 13 global investing experts and professionals joining him for this once-a-year event is US$945.
If you're also an Overseas Retirement Letter subscriber, take another US$50 off the registration fee. You pay only US$895.
If you've attended any event with Lief or Live and Invest Overseas in the past, take another US$100 off the price. You pay only US$795.
If you hold a Conference Discount Voucher, pull that out and reduce your cost of admission again.
And, yes, when you register, your guest attends for half price--US$645.
Remember, of course, that Panama Circle Members attend free. Each Panama Circle Member is invited to bring a guest at no cost, as well.
We're puling out all the stops to make it as easy as possible for you to be in the room for these extraordinarily timely two-and-a-half days.
Go here to register online now. To register by telephone, get in touch here: 1-888-627-8834. If you have questions, don't hesitate to get in touch here: Events@LiveandInvestOverseas.com.
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