Panama: returning to normal.
Thanks mainly to the lobbying efforts of Paul McBride and Sam (the man) Taliafero of Prima Panama, it appears that the government of Panama will reverse their decision to reduce the tourist visa from 90 to 30 days. We will have to wait until mid-July for the legislation to be made into law, but it looks like sense and sensibility have returned again to these fair shores. The problem with these quick changes in legislation is that it creates an air of uncertainty with both the retiree and the investment community as a whole.

The air of uncertainty is definitely being felt in the condo market. This is especially true as some high profile tower developments in Panama City are biting the dust with alarming speed. My prediction, from long ago, is that the condo-bubble in the capital will collapse and it will be a buyers market. Despite all of this, we at yourpanama.com still believe that Panama is still the best place to retire – bar none.

The weather also back to normal.
The weather is also smartening up. The unseasonable rains have dwindled away and we are finally returning to our normal July weather. My personal barometer is the ditch that runs outside my home in Volcan. Normally it is dry for ten months of the year and only fills up in October-November. For the past three weeks it has been dry as a bone.

Lower priced homes selling well.
If you take a look at the bargain priced real estate section, you will see that we have almost cleared out our inventory of homes under $90,000. One deal fell through at the last moment, otherwise we would have run out of affordable homes. This is a sign that our market is gradually appreciating. This isn’t realtor-hype, it’s the facts on the ground.

David Dell
E-mail: chiriquivillage@yahoo.ca