Real Estate Boom in Panama Continues

I have been interviewing a lot of people in the real estate industry in preparation for the March Magazine and there is no doubt that the boom in real estate is alive and well. First of all in Panama there were never the excesses in the market that you saw in Dubai, in the United Arab emirates or London England or Las Vegas, Nevada and other places where the bubble exceeded all reason.  Secondly, retirement is a real issue and there are lots of people nearing retirement from all over the globe who find Panama interesting and attractive for a variety of reasons.

Many people want a second home to escape their own country at certain times of the year. In addition, many people are looking for a total change of lifestyle, in their retirement years and Panama is attractive to them. There is an incredible energy in Panama as business is still good. Many businesses from places around the world are moving here. Real estate is selling well, businesses are doing well, the banks are sell capitalized and ythere is little “sub-prime” debt except amongst the bigger international banks like Citi and HSBC.

Business in the canal and in the Free Zone is strong.  What’s not to like.

Come and see for yourself

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Historical New President in the US

It is January 20th, 2009. Barack Obama is being sworn in as the President of the United States. Here in Panama there is just no getting away from this news as it is compelling here as it is to people the world over.

What does his Presidency portend? While there is a lot of hope and there is no question for the black movement in the United States, and perhaps in other countries where there is a black minority, there is now no going back. A black man is the President of the United States.

But the question which holds the world’s rapt attention is the financial crisis. Can Obama somehow get the economy in the US moving again? Can he somehow stem the flow of red ink that is overwhelming the financial sector.

For Panama one of the important questions is world wide trade as the traffic through the canal yields substantial fees which definitely help support the economy of Panama. In addition, Panama has a huge expansion planned for the canal. Can they get all the money they need to complete that and does it make sense in the current economic climate?

In addition there are a lot of developers in Panama who are concerned about the sale of their projects. It was reported in the press this past weekend that some of the developers who have luxury-high-end condos to sell may be having trouble finding buyers for those units. If that is true, is there any chance of that slowdown spreading generally throughout Panama’s burgeoning real estate market?

While only time will tell what really is true with respect to all those questions, the promise of Obama plays a big role in so many of those answers. And so a new era with Barack Obama at the helm in the White House starts today.

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