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Is now a good time to buy in Panama City?

We analyzed 45 sources and 186 signals · Updated Nov 8, 2026

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Summary

Mostly yes, for resale flats. Across Panama City, real sale prices are US$160 per square foot, down 2% in a year, sellers accept ~11% below asking and a flat earns ~8.4% of its price in rent a year. Bella Vista is the clearest bargain, with prices down 8% and ~21% room to negotiate, while Costa del Este went the other way, up 8%.

We call 14 of our 19 neighborhoods a good time to buy and 5 a place to wait and see.

Rents are doing more of the work now. They rose about 13% in a year, so a flat pays back in ~12 years of rent, and the realtors' association ACOBIR reported its highest apartment rents in several years in the first half of 2026, while closing prices stayed below earlier peaks.

Prices have room to recover. Real sale prices are still about 17% below their 2015 high, and the latest data point to a long bottoming out, not a new slide.

The premium districts break the pattern. Casco Viejo has the highest resale price in our table, US$311 per square foot, and the lowest yield, ~6.4%; Santa Maria gives only ~8% off asking, the least we found.

New construction is the other place to be careful: new-build prices run 30% to 120% above resale in the same district, and developers are selling again, so they have little reason to cut.

Financing gives buyers no extra push. Mortgage rates are about 6.5%, in US dollars, and the banking data show fewer late payments, not a wave of forced sales.

So the call is simple: buy resale where prices are slipping and sellers negotiate, as in Bella Vista, Punta Paitilla, Avenida Balboa or Marbella, and wait in Costa del Este, Santa Maria, Casco Viejo, Amador and San Francisco.

Our Panama City table by neighborhood

Our Panama City table gives our verdict for each of the 19 neighborhoods we track, with the real sale price, the price change over 12 months, the room to negotiate, the price-to-rent ratio and the gross rental yield behind each call.

It also explains, neighborhood by neighborhood, why the same city can be a good place to buy now in one area and a place to wait in another.

If you want real answers from the field about a specific home or street, ask a pro in Panama City for free.

19 neighborhoodsSwipe for more columns →
Neighborhood
 
 
Verdict
our short
answer
Real Sale Price
per sq ft
 
Price Change
last 12 months,
resaleiDistrict MLS change softened for small samples, then adjusted by neighborhood demand; areas without data stay near the city (−2%).
Room to Negotiate
real price
below asking
Price-to-Rent Ratio
years of rent
 iReal sale price of a 2-bed ÷ 12 months of signed rent.
Gross Rental Yield
a year of rent,
% of priceiSigned yearly rent ÷ real 2-bed price.
Why
what drives
the verdict here
Data
confidence
 iHigh: direct data for this neighborhood. Medium: one strong source, or several pointing the same way, with our own estimate. Low: few signals, an order of magnitude.
Panama CityChecked Nov 2026 Good time 160 −2% ~11% ~12 years ~8.4% Resale prices are flat, sellers accept about 11% under asking and a flat pays back in about 12 years of rent. Buyers have the upper hand outside Costa del Este. High
Santa Maria Wait and see 274 +4% ~8% ~14 years ~7.2% Prices here barely move and sellers give only ~8% off. You pay the city's top price for a yield of ~7%; worth it only if you love the golf‑course setting. High
Casco Viejo Wait and see 311 −3% ~13% ~16 years ~6.4% The priciest resale in town, slow to sell, and the lowest rental yield. Wait for the Airbnb bills to settle unless you find a licensed building at a fair price. Medium
Amador Wait and see 218 — ~13% ~13 years ~7.8% Few resale homes and no real price trend to go by; new projects ask $4,400/m² and more. Wait until there's more resale stock to compare. Most new supply here is towers sold off‑plan. Medium
Costa del Este Wait and see 200 +8% ~10% ~14 years ~7.2% Real prices rose about 8% in a year and sellers give little room. Good area, but you'd buy near the top: compare a few resale towers first. High
Avenida Balboa Good time 190 −5% ~15% ~13 years ~7.9% Real prices slipped about 5% this year and sellers accept ~15% under asking. A flat earns ~7.9% of its price in rent: a long row of bay‑front towers. Medium
Punta Pacifica Good time 175 +2% ~20% ~12 years ~8.6% Real prices held flat this year and sellers accept ~20% under asking. A flat earns ~8.6% of its price in rent: luxury sea‑view towers by the JW Marriott. High
Clayton Good time 175 Flat ~10% ~14 years ~7.3% Real prices held flat this year and sellers accept ~10% under asking. A flat earns ~7.3% of its price in rent: green former US base, low‑rise flats and houses. Medium
Coco del Mar Good time 165 +2% ~11% ~11 years ~9.0% Real prices held flat this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~9.0% of its price in rent: quiet seaside streets near Punta Pacifica. Medium
El Cangrejo Good time 165 −3% ~11% ~14 years ~7.4% Real prices slipped about 3% this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~7.4% of its price in rent: walkable, central and the expat favorite. High
Marbella Good time 163 −5% ~15% ~11 years ~9.0% Real prices slipped about 5% this year and sellers accept ~15% under asking. A flat earns ~9.0% of its price in rent: a busy strip of towers, bars and offices. Medium
Obarrio Good time 162 −5% ~11% ~12 years ~8.6% Real prices slipped about 5% this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~8.6% of its price in rent: the banking district, with compact flats. Medium
Albrook Good time 158 −1% ~11% ~13 years ~7.8% Real prices held flat this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~7.8% of its price in rent: mid‑priced flats near the mall and bus terminal. Medium
San Francisco Wait and see 156 +3% ~9% ~13 years ~7.5% Real prices rose a little this year, so less room than in Bella Vista next door. Older towers are good value; new ones cost about twice as much. Medium
Bella Vista Good time 153 −8% ~21% ~12 years ~8.2% Real prices slipped about 8% this year and sellers accept ~21% under asking. A flat earns ~8.2% of its price in rent: dense and central, with many older towers. High
Punta Paitilla Good time 149 −6% ~16% ~11 years ~9.0% Real prices slipped about 6% this year and sellers accept ~16% under asking. A flat earns ~9.0% of its price in rent: large older sea‑view flats. Medium
El Carmen Good time 144 −4% ~11% ~13 years ~8.0% Real prices slipped about 4% this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~8.0% of its price in rent: a small central area of older buildings on Vía España. Medium
Betania Good time 139 −2% ~11% ~14 years ~7.2% Real prices slipped about 2% this year and sellers accept ~11% under asking. A flat earns ~7.2% of its price in rent: a local middle‑class area of houses and low towers. Medium
El Dorado Good time 139 −2% ~12% ~13 years ~7.6% Real prices slipped about 2% this year and sellers accept ~12% under asking. A flat earns ~7.6% of its price in rent: a local area around the El Dorado mall. Medium
Panama Viejo Good time 135 −2% ~12% ~13 years ~7.9% Real prices slipped about 2% this year and sellers accept ~12% under asking. A flat earns ~7.9% of its price in rent: a cheaper local area near the old ruins. Medium

New-build prices are another story: they kept rising and cost 30% to 120% more than resale in the same district (see our new-construction table). Mortgage rates: about 6.5%, the US dollar is the local currency.

How we got these numbers. We checked 45 sources and 80 signals: ACOBIR's MLS (real sales, 2015-2026), Registro Público closings via Brax, asking-price studies, three rent studies and about 30 rent listings, press and agents. Each neighborhood is derived from its district's real sale data and its rent level.

Source: TheLatinvestor property database, November 2026.

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Is now a good time to buy in Panama City?

Yes, for most resale buyers: Panama City gives buyers the upper hand right now, with real prices flat or slipping and sellers closing below asking across the city.

We rate 14 of our 19 neighborhoods a good time to buy. The other 5, from Costa del Este to Casco Viejo, are places to wait.

The rent side is the strongest argument. ACOBIR's first-half 2026 figures, reported by La Prensa in July 2026, put the average apartment rent at US$12.57 per square meter a month, its highest level in several years, after a recovery that began in 2023. Over the same months, the average closing price stood at US$1,726 per square meter, below its earlier highs.

Activity is recovering too. La Prensa reported 1,292 new-home sales in the first quarter of 2026, after only 2,866 in all of 2025, and private construction permits in January 2026 reached US$115.6 million, the highest January in five years. Waiting for every indicator to turn weak means missing part of the window.

The premium districts are harder to justify. Costa del Este rose 8%, the most in our table, and Casco Viejo is the most expensive resale. In Panama City, buying now works when the price comes from real closings, not from a listing or a developer's brochure.

Have Panama City resale prices finally bottomed?

Probably: Panama City resale prices look closer to a floor than to another big fall, with real prices down 2% in a year and still about 17% below their 2015 high.

The long series shows a slow slide, now flattening. ACOBIR's MLS, the realtors' shared database of closings, put the citywide apartment average at US$1,894.39 per square meter in the first half of 2015, US$1,767.44 in the first half of 2024 and US$1,726 in the first half of 2026.

That raw average fell less than our own measure, and the two are not the same series. ACOBIR averages whatever apartments closed in each half-year, so it moves with the mix of districts and sizes sold; our 17% follows real sale prices neighborhood by neighborhood.

The neighborhoods split rather than rebound together. Bella Vista is down 8%, Punta Paitilla 6%, and Avenida Balboa, Marbella and Obarrio 5% each, while Costa del Este, Santa Maria and San Francisco are rising. Buyers pay up for the newer premium districts while older central towers keep repricing.

Supply is not piling up either. Global Property Guide's first-quarter 2026 report showed resale listings falling in several prime neighborhoods, including Avenida Balboa, Casco Viejo, Costa del Este, El Cangrejo, Punta Pacifica, San Francisco and Santa Maria.

Are Panama City sellers still giving buyers real negotiating room?

Yes: Panama City sellers still close ~11% below asking on average, and far more in Bella Vista, where the gap reaches ~21%, the widest in our table.

Registry data point the same way. Brax, a Panama brokerage paid by developers, compared Registro Público closings with listings of the same size in five areas between May and September 2026, and found asking prices above closings in all five. We quote it because nobody else publishes that comparison, and our own figures stay the reference.

The discounts do not come from distress. The Superintendency of Banks reported in October 2026 that the local banking system's share of late and past-due loans improved to 5.2% from 5.6%. Sellers negotiate even though households are paying their mortgages better.

Punta Pacifica shows how a flat year can hide a big gap. Real prices there rose only 2%, yet sellers accept one of the biggest discounts in our table.

Santa Maria is the opposite: real prices up 4% and the least room to negotiate in our table. The opening offer that works in Bella Vista is unrealistic there.

The table below shows our negotiation estimate next to the gap Brax measured in the same areas.

Area Our room to negotiate Brax asking gap, 2026 Gross yield Our verdict
Bella Vista ~21% 26.1% (June) ~8.2% Good time
Punta Pacifica ~20% 22.1% (July) ~8.6% Good time
El Cangrejo ~11% 11.6% (September) ~7.4% Good time
Costa del Este ~10% 11.8% (May) ~7.2% Wait and see
Santa Maria ~8% 7.2% (September) ~7.2% Wait and see

Note: Brax compares asking prices with registry closings; our figure is the real price below asking.

Are Panama City rents strong enough to justify buying now?

Yes: Panama City rents back up today's prices better than a few years ago, with rents up about 13% in a year and a flat paying back in ~12 years of rent across the city.

ACOBIR's first-half 2026 report is the clearest outside check. La Prensa reported apartment rents of US$14.17 per square meter a month in Juan Díaz, US$12.73 in San Francisco and US$12.18 in Bella Vista, the highest of recent years.

Closing prices did not follow: the citywide average stayed below its earlier highs. Higher rents on flat or softer prices make buying pay without betting on a quick price rise.

The best yields sit in older central and seaside towers, not in the priciest districts. Punta Paitilla has the highest gross yield in our table, with Marbella and Coco del Mar at the same level (see the table below); Casco Viejo, the most expensive, has the lowest.

Financing is the catch. A gross yield is not a mortgage return, and at today's mortgage rates a buyer who borrows keeps little after condo fees, upkeep, empty months and closing costs. The rent case works best for buyers who negotiate well and borrow little.

The table below shows our neighborhoods from the highest gross yield to the lowest, with a few in between.

Area Gross yield Price-to-rent Price change Our verdict
Punta Paitilla ~9.0% ~11 years −6% Good time
Marbella ~9.0% ~11 years −5% Good time
Coco del Mar ~9.0% ~11 years +2% Good time
Obarrio ~8.6% ~12 years −5% Good time
El Carmen ~8.0% ~13 years −4% Good time
Avenida Balboa ~7.9% ~13 years −5% Good time
Panama Viejo ~7.9% ~13 years −2% Good time
San Francisco ~7.5% ~13 years +3% Wait and see
Betania ~7.2% ~14 years −2% Good time
Casco Viejo ~6.4% ~16 years −3% Wait and see
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Is Bella Vista the clearest buy in Panama City right now?

Yes: for a value buyer in Panama City, Bella Vista is the clearest buy, with the largest price drop in our table, down 8%, and the most room to negotiate.

The outside data back it up. ACOBIR's first-half closing price for Bella Vista fell to US$1,405 per square meter from US$1,687 a year earlier, La Prensa reported, while rents there reached US$12.18 per square meter a month: prices and rents moved in opposite directions.

Brax found its widest asking-over-closing gap of the five areas it studied in Bella Vista. Both its check and ours say advertised prices there deserve hard negotiation.

Bella Vista is large and mixed, with older towers, newer buildings and very different upkeep from one block to the next. Our US$153 per square foot is a neighborhood reference, not a substitute for recent closings in the same building.

San Francisco, next door, is weaker on timing. Its real price is close, at US$156 per square foot, but prices are rising and sellers give only ~9% off.

Is Punta Pacifica better timed than Costa del Este?

Yes: Punta Pacifica is better timed for a resale buyer, at US$175 per square foot with ~20% room to negotiate, while Costa del Este costs US$200 after an 8% rise in a year, with ~10% room.

Costa del Este is a strong area bought at a different point in the cycle. It has steady demand, planned infrastructure and many newer towers, and La Prensa reported in March 2026 that it remained one of the city's most active residential development zones.

Brax's registry checks show the same split: a median closing price of US$2,108 per square meter in Costa del Este in May 2026, and US$1,838 in Punta Pacifica in July 2026, where asking prices sat further above closings. Those are Brax's figures, not ours.

The rent side also favors Punta Pacifica: ~12 years of rent to pay back a flat, against ~14 years in Costa del Este, and a higher gross yield.

Costa del Este can still be the right choice for someone who wants newer buildings, schools and offices nearby. The issue is the entry price: after a strong year, a buyer there needs future price rises to do more of the work.

Should buyers wait in Costa del Este and Santa Maria?

Mostly yes: in Costa del Este and Santa Maria, Panama City's resale prices are rising and sellers give little room, so a buyer has less margin for error.

Santa Maria is the most demanding on price. A flat there costs US$274 per square foot and ~14 years of rent, and sellers give the smallest discount in our table. Owners there are in no hurry to sell.

Costa del Este gives a little more room, but its 8% rise is the highest in our table. La Prensa reported in March 2026 that new projects there increasingly sell security, amenities and services, which supports prices but also means a buyer is not entering at a low point.

The case against waiting is real: high-income buyers keep moving to these planned districts, and shrinking resale listings could make good units harder to find.

We still prefer patience because the rent does not make up for the higher entry price. Punta Paitilla, Marbella and Coco del Mar pay back a flat in ~11 years of rent, against ~14 years in both Costa del Este and Santa Maria.

The table below shows the five neighborhoods where we would wait.

Area Real price per sq ft Price change Room to negotiate Price-to-rent
Casco Viejo US$311 −3% ~13% ~16 years
Santa Maria US$274 +4% ~8% ~14 years
Amador US$218 — ~13% ~13 years
Costa del Este US$200 +8% ~10% ~14 years
San Francisco US$156 +3% ~9% ~13 years

Is Casco Viejo worth buying before Panama's Airbnb rules are settled?

No: Casco Viejo is a hard buy on short-stay income right now, because it has the highest resale price and the lowest yield in our table, and the short-stay rules are still moving.

The current rule is strict. Article 21 of Law 80 of 2012 bans rentals shorter than 45 days in the District of Panama without a tourist-lodging permit, with fines from B/.5,000 to B/.50,000. It is enforced: the Official Gazette of July 2026 published tourism-authority proceedings over short stays in the Yacht Club building.

Lawmakers want to change the framework. The National Assembly reported in January 2026 that a bill to regulate and tax short tourist stays had passed first debate, and a tourism-incentive bill sent in September 2026 proposed a 15% ITBM sales tax on short-term rentals. The direction is formal regulation, but the final costs are not settled.

Casco Viejo already needs a lot to work. A flat there takes ~16 years of rent to pay back, the most in our table. A long-term landlord accepts the weakest rent in the city; a short-stay owner takes legal and tax risk.

A licensed building bought at a strong discount is a different case from a flat whose return depends on a future rule. Our call is to wait unless the unit already works under today's law.

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Is Avenida Balboa a better buy now than San Francisco?

Yes, on timing: Avenida Balboa's real prices slipped 5% in a year and sellers accept ~15% below asking, while San Francisco's prices are rising and its sellers give less.

The two attract different buyers, but the entry conditions are clear. Avenida Balboa costs US$190 per square foot, a long row of bay-front towers earning ~7.9% of their price in rent. San Francisco costs US$156, with a slightly lower yield.

San Francisco's lower price per square foot does not make it better timed. La Prensa reported in July 2026 that ACOBIR's first-half closing price there reached US$1,759 per square meter, with rents of US$12.73 a month. In San Francisco, new towers cost about twice as much as older ones, and developers keep launching pricier projects.

Avenida Balboa's older towers vary a lot in age, upkeep and flat size, which gives a patient buyer room to compare recent closings and negotiate.

A buyer with a fixed total budget may still find more options in San Francisco, where a square foot costs less. Timing and affordability are two different questions.

Is resale a better deal than new construction in Panama City now?

Yes: in Panama City, resale is the better deal today, because new-build prices run 30% to 120% above resale in the same district.

La Prensa's July 2026 review gave new-project prices of US$4,626 per square meter in Santa Ana, US$3,782 in Bella Vista, US$3,723 in Juan Díaz and US$3,673 in San Francisco. In the same article, ACOBIR's first-half resale closings were US$2,587 in Juan Díaz and far lower in San Francisco and Bella Vista.

New and old flats are not the same product: a buyer of new pays for amenities, lower early upkeep and often a better layout. The gap is still large enough to make new construction a harder case.

Developers have little reason to cut. La Prensa reported that new-home sales fell to 2,866 in 2025 from 4,737 in 2024, then reached 1,292 in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

Resale goes the other way in several neighborhoods, where real prices are slipping and sellers negotiate double digits.

Are Panama City mortgage rates helping buyers yet?

Not yet: Panama City mortgages cost about 6.5% in US dollars, so a buyer who borrows needs a better price than a cash buyer.

The Superintendency of Banks set the residential mortgage reference rate at 6.50% for the second quarter of 2026. It was 5.75% from the second half of 2019, then rose to 6% in the third quarter of 2023 and 6.25% in the third quarter of 2024. Banks set their own rates, but nothing in the official series points to cuts.

Borrowers are cautious. La Prensa reported that the mortgage balance reached US$21.386 billion at the end of 2025, up 1.91% in a year, with 1,334 new mortgages in November 2025 against 2,024 in November 2019.

Waiting for bank repossessions is a weak plan. The international banking center's past-due loans fell to 2.06% from 2.24% a year earlier, the Superintendency reported in October 2026. The one weak spot is the state mortgage lender: La Prensa reported in August 2026 that Banco Hipotecario Nacional was heading for closure with US$153 million in late loans.

High rates are a reason to negotiate hard where resale is soft, not to wait for a small rate move while paying a premium price.

Is Amador worth buying now while new projects are coming?

Not yet: Amador is a place to wait, because it has few resale homes and no real price trend to go by, at US$218 per square foot.

Project history matters here. La Prensa reported in August 2026 on the long conflict at Naos Harbour Island, where owners in two residential buildings got caught in disputes over the concession, debts and state action. It does not describe every Amador property, but it shows why title and project history count more here than an average.

New development is trying to lift the area. Most new supply in Amador is towers sold off-plan, asking US$4,400 per square meter and more, far above the thin resale market.

The rent case is decent but not exceptional: ~13 years of rent to pay back a flat, with some room to negotiate. Punta Paitilla, Marbella and Coco del Mar earn more and have easier resale comparisons.

A specific building can work if the title, the management and the closing price check out. At the neighborhood level, we would wait for more resale sales to set a firm reference.

So, is now a good time to buy in Panama City?

Mostly yes, for resale: Panama City's real prices are down 2% in a year, sellers negotiate, and a flat pays back in ~12 years of rent, so buyers have the upper hand in 14 of our 19 neighborhoods.

Bella Vista is the clearest value, with prices down 8% and the most room to negotiate. Punta Pacifica is a different kind of buy: prices up slightly, but sellers concede a lot and rents are strong. Punta Paitilla, Marbella and Obarrio keep good rents while prices stay soft.

The city looks closer to a floor than to another drop. Real prices are still well below their 2015 high, rents are climbing, and new-home sales are recovering, so waiting for a crash asks more than the evidence supports.

Five neighborhoods need patience. Costa del Este rose the most in our table, Santa Maria gives the least room, Casco Viejo has the thinnest yield while short-stay rules keep moving, Amador has no price trend to trust, and San Francisco is already rising.

New construction is the other weak spot: at 30% to 120% above resale, it needs a strong personal reason to pay the premium.

Mortgage buyers need the resale discount most, with rates at about 6.5% and no sign of forced sales. Our call: buy resale where closings, rent and the seller's discount line up, and wait where prices have run, the yield is thin, or the purchase only works if a future rule goes your way.

Our methodology

Our data runs through November 2026. For each Panama City neighborhood, we track the real sale price per square foot (what buyers paid, not asking prices), its change over 12 months, how far real prices sit below asking, the price-to-rent ratio, the gross rental yield and our timing verdict. Prices are in US dollars, Panama's currency, so no conversion is involved.

We checked 45 websites and 186 signals: ACOBIR's MLS of real sales from 2015 to 2026, Registro Público closings via Brax, asking-price studies, three rent studies and about 30 rent listings, the press and agents. Each neighborhood is derived from its district's real sale data and its rent level.

High confidence means strong sources that agree. Medium means one strong source, or several that point the same way, with our own estimate per neighborhood built from the figure for the whole of Panama City and what we know of each neighborhood. Figures with "~" are our estimates, and cells we could not estimate well are left empty.

We give more weight to closings than to asking prices because a closing records what a buyer paid. Asking prices help us measure negotiation and compare resale with new construction.

Sales are not equally deep everywhere. Amador has few comparable resales and Casco Viejo has unusual buildings, so both carry Medium confidence.

A reader may see another price for the same area elsewhere. One source uses asking prices, another registry closings, another developer sales, and boundaries and flat sizes differ. We keep one resale framework across our table and use outside figures to check direction and explain what moves prices.

Key sources used for this analysis include ACOBIR 2026 primary and secondary market reports and MLS method, ACOBIR historical Panama City apartment sale and rent series through the first half of 2024 (2015 and 2024 averages), July 2026: new-home sales, first-half 2026 MLS closing prices and rents by district, new-project prices, March 2026: construction permits and active development zones, Brax (brokerage): asking prices against Registro Público closings in five areas, 2026, Brax (brokerage): registry median closing prices by area, 2026, Residential mortgage reference rate of 6.50%, second quarter of 2026, October 2026: banking credit and late-loan indicators, Mortgage and loan-quality statistics, 2026, Mortgage balance and new mortgage counts, 2025, August 2026: Banco Hipotecario Nacional heading for closure with US$153 million in late loans, Law 80 of 2012, Article 21: rentals shorter than 45 days, July 2026 Official Gazette: short-stay enforcement proceedings, January 2026: short-stay bill passes first debate, September 2026 tourism-incentive bill with a 15% ITBM on short-term rentals and August 2026: the Naos Harbour conflict in Amador.

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