The Non Recession in Panama – Panama Trade, Business and Real Estate

Panama Trade, Business, and real estate: Panama does not only offer stunning beauty but is also a thrilling capital city.

There’s much more in Panama than two seashores as well as a rugged interior, an old-fashioned past, and a fascinating Latin American capital city. Panama is a bustling place with a wealth of investment opportunities. For those who are looking in making the move to Panama and investing in Panama or setting up the foundation of a business in Panama some background information is helpful.

The Non-Recession in Panama

The global recession has caused an economic slowdown in Panama however the gross domestic production never decreased below 3 percent a year. It was as high as 11 percent in recent times. The flow of traffic via Panama’s Panama Canal has dipped a small amount, but the revenues are at a sufficient level to sustain the expansion plan. Panama Canal Authority Panama Canal Authority expects to be back to the current levels of shipping in the next year and a major increase in revenues once the expansion program is complete.

The business environment in the Central American banking center, tourist center, insurance center, and trade center has merely declined to the standard level in Europe in that of the United States, waiting to return to a rate of growth similar to China’s when the recession eases. The growth of Panama’s middle class is great evidence of the expansion of the business sector in all its aspects in this region.

What Happened to Property Values and Why

Many North Americans (Norte Americanos here) were stung by the impact of the dramatic drop in the value of their homes “back home.” Many have taken out another mortgage on their home in the US or Canada to buy second properties in Panama. As the value of real estate fell in the North many were forced to sell their homes in Panama to pay for the mortgage to return home. Additionally, the recession affected buying a new apartment or home in the country for a few months. Despite a favorable economic environment and business climate, property that was considered to be high-end in Panama fell significantly in cost. This means that the reason people had to sell in Panama was not to have to do with Panama and had a lot due to the economic conditions elsewhere. This means that there are many undervalued properties in good places in this country that are waiting for smart investors to discover these properties.

As global trade expands as the historical Panama Canal Expansion progresses towards the point of Panama anticipates more expansion in the future. Panama expects to also witness property prices rise significantly in the coming years. New buyers will move in to profit from the prices that are quite low by historical standards.

Panama Canal Expansion Will Change Global Shipping Patterns Forever

Panama is the most narrow region of the Americas. With a width of fifty miles, it is the perfect location to build the Panama Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. The land bridge that connects North and Central America Panama is ideally located for goods transport and to serve as an aviation hub in the Americas.

Panama Canal Panama Canal has been open to business since. The construction of the canal was regarded as to be one of the greatest engineering marvels. It was operated by the USA up to 1999, The Panama Canal is currently managed by an autonomous part that is part of the Panama government, called the Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad of the Canal de Panama).

These locks were constructed to permit passage for American warships and nearly everything else shipping in the start and the latter part of the 20th century. Today, there are supertankers and container vessels that are too big for the Panama Canal. The biggest ship that is able to pass through is known as a “Panamamax.” The expanded set of locks that will be used for Panama Canal Expansion will allow almost all ships currently in operation to pass through, as well as increase capacity by 5 percent of world trade in the sea to as much as 10 percent.

“So-called” Panamax ships, specially designed to accommodate the ninety-four-year older Panama Canal locks, can transport the capacity of 4,000 twenty-foot containers. Expanding the locks will let “cape-size vessels” with as up to 12,600 containers move through the brand new “third lane” Panama Canal locks.

Ports across the East coast of the Americas are installing massive cranes that are able to service the massive vessels that are scheduled to enter to pass through the Panama Canal from 2014 onward. The canal authority hopes to witness as high as an increase of two times the volume of transit as the massive vessels, which are cape-sized, begin to transit through Panama. Following the time that the USA handed over the canal, to the current operators, they have begun working to develop the land that runs along the canal to be used for commercial purposes. The development of land on the Panama Canal to develop logistics operations, manufacturing facilities and similar facilities is already creating jobs that benefit from the international trade flowing through the country.

Trade Agreements and Investments

Panama has Free Trade Agreements with many countries. One example is it has a free trade agreement with neighboring Costa Rice in which 90 percent of the goods are transported duty-free from one country to another and in the years to come all goods will be gradually duty-free. Free trade agreements are used to reduce costs and usually assist in creating jobs. Canada along with Panama is in the process of negotiations for a free trade agreement and the agreement already signed with the USA often shows indications of being approved by the Senate.

All over Latin America and especially in Panama the middle class is expanding and more prosperous. In addition to the huge population of North American and European retirees, it is the prosperous Panamanian middle class that is responsible for and increases the prices of real estate. This is a country that has not experienced an enormous rise in unemployment. The growth of the middle class and the rising prosperity are predicted to push higher prices for real estate in Panama.

An objective indicator of how they are likely to perform in Panama was observed just a few years ago as one of the largest US investment houses had several Panama investment opportunities in the growth fund it had. In the past few years, Panama has seen the most amount of foreign investment per person, of any country in Latin America.

Opportunity in Panama

Even though the recession caused an economic downturn in Panama, it also caused a significant “correction” in property values for high-end, new properties throughout the country. If one prefers the beach or the mountains Panama offers both. Panama City is an exciting Latin American capital city and islands like the Bocas del Toro Archipelago in the Caribbean or Taboga and Taboga as well as the Pearl Archipelago in the Pacific provide exotic tropical getaways. If you are looking for a place to live in the tropics would be in good shape to consider looking in Panama. Anyone who invests in the development of the Panamanian housing market could be extremely happy to have done so.

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