The average price for apartments in Panama City went from $2,850 to $3,100 per square meter during the first half of 2016...
It is now clear that the market experiences strong demand on the Class A condos with immediate delivery and the prices increased from $ 2,850.00 to $ 3,100.00 per square meter just during the first six months of the 2016. At the same time Class B price remain stable with the average figure of $2,165 per square meter.
During this period some 1,237 units were delivered to the market and there are total of 13,877 units of apartments already built in the city.
Eileen Chévez, the Market Research coordinator in CBRE Panama believes that “the sales prices will remain stable and she doesn’t expect them to fall”.
“Closer to the end of the year we expect the market to offer more options, as there are many buildings to be delivered soon. This should smoothen the situation, as for right now there are not so many available”, said Chévez.
Over 2015 some 8,362 units (houses and apartments) were built. 27,600 Panamanians and foreigners invested nearly $900 million and right now they are the owners of their new homes. In 2016 the real estate market is expected to cross $1 billion with the sales forecast at $1,112.3 million with 10,504 units sold nationwide.
The submarkets with the higher cumulative placement were: Northern Panama City (Panama Norte) with 620 units sold this year, and the Coastline (Linea Costera) with 346 units sold.
These sales were backed by the liquidity of the banking center that provides financing to buyers of up to 90%; the benefits of preferential interest for homes up to $ 120,000.00; and a tax exemption scheme at certain levels of new construction.
The average lease rate for now for Class A projects remained at $16 per square meter per month. Similarly, Class B projects maintained their lease rate at $10.00 per square meter. “The rental prices might begin to decline slowly as today’s trend is to pay bank debts with the rent income, which become more and more popular”.
