Panama News Briefs

Real estate prices in free fall, a new government on the way and young women challenging the macho image Things are changing in Panama. The real estate market has been turned upside down, and, according to our perpetual iconoclast Sam Taliaferro, the buyers now are not second homers, but those seeking security and wanting to make their Panama residence their first home. Add to that a team of young women coming to Panama from the US to help change our macho image. And then there's the election. A new regime with safer streets, better transportation, politicians completing their term without lining their pockets, actually "serving" the people they were elected to represent. Seems that siren call has been heard before: "zero corruption." Check back here in five years. No one is promising more jobs as the construction industry grinds to a halt, and with the completion of the Cinta Costera in June(?) there will be a sudden jump in the ranks of the unemployed. MELTDOWN. The condo market in Panama's capital city is in "complete meltdown" with the number of sales "slowed to zero or very close to it," says Sam in an interview published in the New York Times. That's a familiar phrase for anyone living in the US, but could be a wake-up call for those well heeled enough to move into a market where prices are falling. Says Sam: "I know this first hand because I own properties that I bought, some on speculation, that I haven't been able to sell." Mr. Taliaferro is a developer, and one of the most outspoken voices in the real estate community through his online column, the Panama Investor Blog. He says that sales in Boquete have slowed: "But we've seen a pickup in another market. And what I mean by that is, the market we were typically selling into over the last five years, which was a $200,000 to $400,000 range that market has basically dried up, because it was a function of people's heightened ability to get credit and people being able to take equity out of their home in the US and spend it. "The market we're seeing now is a market of wealthy individuals who are looking for safety. They're looking for a safe haven. They want to park their assets somewhere else because they see a train coming down the tracks. "They're looking for what would be a second home that will become a primary home. They'll make this their primary home and be a resident outside the country and maybe keep a home in the United States or wherever they're from." FALLING PRICES. Sam also sees condo prices in Panama city in free fall. "In a building in Punta Pacifica that I happen to own property in, they were selling at $2,400 a square meter ? six or eight months ago. Now I can't sell it at $1,300 a square meter." Asked for his response to those who say Panama will weather the storm better than other markets, Sam says: "They are blowing smoke. They're hyping." NEGOTIATE. And what should investors and buyers know about Panama that they're not hearing from the sales people? "They can negotiate. ?don't take the price that is given. Negotiate that price. There is a lot of product on the market and you can get some really good deals. The deals can be had anywhere you want to go in Panama. The agents are just going to tell you what they want to get you to buy things. But the reality can be quite different." MACHO ATTACK. A report in a West Windsor newspaper warns of a new type of invasion. After rubbing elbows with US Rep. Rush Holt, and President Barack Obama during internships throughout high school and college, 21-year-old Alberta Yan, with a flair for helping others, won't be going anywhere near the Senate or the House when she graduates college. Yan will be on her way to Panama with members of the Global Business Brigade, and will team up with the women's cooperative Esperanza, hoping to break the male-dominated hierarchy. "A lot of women there are looked down upon," she said. "They namely do chores, so they don't have a steady income." Yan and her team hope that by bringing business skills to these women, she can provide them with a chance to stand on their own two feet instead of relying on their male counterparts to sustain themselves. "It's giving a voice and an opportunity that women are capable of running a successful community group and successful business," Yan said.

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