Real Estate in Panama, January-June 2010.

La Pinta and La Santa María, tow artificial islands on Panama Bay.

     The Mexican company ICA (“Ingenieros Civiles Asociados”) will build during 2010 two artificial islands in front of Panama City, on Panama Bay, with an investment of U.S.$ 140 million, where 138 exclusive residences will be built to become the " most exclusive and elegant mixed-use community of the city”.

     Initially the project consisted of three islands: La Pinta, La Niña and La Santa Maria, as the names of the three saling ships of Christopher Columbus. But for environmental reasons it was decided to remove La Niña island from the project.

     The two islands will be located 150 meters from the coast, over the sole real estate area known as Punta Pacifica. La Santamaria will have 10.3 hectares of land where 72 lots will be distributed to residences and La Pinta will distribute 8.8 hectares for 66 lots. The total hectares of land is 19.1, equivalent to 5 baseball stadiums. The lots will vary between 800 and 1800 square meters and will be sold between U.S.$1500 and U.S.$5000 per square meter. The cost of the residences is not included.

     The construction of the islands consists of dredging for about five months for each island to extract marine mud in order to place it on barges and then move to specific "environmental unaffected” sites in the sea. The project also includes the construction of a seawall with rocks up to two tons and then continue with the filling with various materials including sand, stone and basalt rock. In total, it will need four billion cubic meters of materials, which is equivalent to the size of two pyramids of Egypt.

     The project has all the requirements to prevent environmental and ecological damage, and will be built with high tech.

     The residences will be finished between 2011 and 2013, according to the construction company.

Real Estate in Panama, October 2009.

     Panama is a great place to live. It’s listed as one of the best countries in Latin America for American retirees. Among the incentives are: Foreigners, who buy new homes or apartments in Panama, are exempted from land tax payment for a period of 20 years; the exemption from income tax for abroad profits; and discounts for all services to retirees.
     Panama has private hospitals with sophisticated technology and also a Public Health System. There are also pharmacies with a wide range of medications available. One benefit is that some drugs doesn't need prescriptions, as in United States. Only those that are required to.
     It has the largest banking system in Latin America. Panama's currency is the Balboa, but the dollar is the legal tender paper money in the country. The relation of the dollar is 1:1 to Balboa.
     In Panama all the places are very close. There are shopping centers strategic located with all types of needed services. As a country with a free zone, items such as clothing and electronic appliances are cheaper than other countries. The distances from the city are very short. If you want to go to the beach, it only takes 1 hour to go to the closer one.
     Panama's climate is tropical. There are two seasons: a dry season and a rainy season. It isn’t a country with the presence of atmospheric phenomena such as hurricanes or tornadoes, and even less of earthquakes. That’s one of the reasons that Americans built the Panama Canal in this country.