Commercial real property in Panama City: take advantage of the favorable market situation!

Commercial real estate in Panama is a promising long-term investment option to consider. Purchase of office space in Tower Financial Center, Panama City can serve two purposes equally well. First, you can put your own company office there and second, you can let the space on a lease to a local company. 

Why invest into commercial property in Panama City?

If you have not thought about investing into commercial property yet, it is time you did now. Panama is one of the countries where the real estate market has tremendous growth potential.

Commercial property has been as popular with foreign investors in Panama as residential estates have been. There are several compelling reasons to make this kind of investment:

• Investments into real estate are much more secure than investments into stocks, shares, bonds, deposit or savings certificates and so on.
• Real property that you purchase provides a stable long-term return on investment. In Panama in particular, the number of people and companies wishing to hire office space or residential accommodations is always high.

There are some additional weighty reasons too:

• The Panamanian economy has been ceaselessly growing over the last fifteen years or so.
• Foreign investments to Panama and foreign businesses establishing residence in the country are also growing in volume and number.
• Middle class is appearing in Panama and becoming more and more solvent.

In general, Panama City real estate shows a strong investment potential. Fluctuations do occur in the market but the prices are steadily growing in the long-term perspective.

Some favorable fluctuations are happening now. According to the International Monetary Fund report, the rates of Panama economic growth in 2018 were lower than those a year before. This is attributed to less trade that the country conducted and internal demand slow-down.

Due to the excessive supply of housing and commercial property, the rent pay decreased in Panama City by 20% in 2018 and in some places by as much as 40%.

Panama economy and its development perspectives

Panamanian real estate experts note that the fall in the rent prices in the country was caused by tougher competition from Canada, the USA, and Columbia. Nevertheless, the World Economic League Table (WELT) specialists expect that Panama’s GDP will grow by at least 4,5% in 2019. 

They base their calculations on the fact that foreign investors were comparatively more passive last year because of the growth of the fuel price and the increase of the credit interest rates. In addition to that, the Panama Canal generated less income in April and May due to the trade war between the US and China.

Change of power in Panama and its effects on the economy

Because national elections took place in Panama in 2019, the economy slowed down as the business circles in the country waited to see what happens when the new President took office. However, the newly elected President Cortizo expressed support of all the previous government’s initiatives aimed at improving Panama economy. In his election campaign, Cortizo promised to increase the country’s GDP.

One of the first serious steps the new President plans to take is abolishing price control. He believes that this can revive Panamanian economy. In addition, more budgetary resources will be allocated to tourist industry development, and the new copper mine “Cobre Panama” will give an additional impulse to the improvement of the country’s economy.

One of the priorities that Cortizo has is maintaining positive diplomatic relations with China. Panama has already made nineteen economic agreements with this country under the former administration of President Varela.

Chinese companies have started the construction of a railroad that will connect the country’s capital with the city of David in Chiriquí province.

Notwithstanding the criticism on the part of the USA administration, Cortizo counts on making new trade agreements with the “Celestial Empire”. 

The arrival of Chinese investors to Panama is expected to give a boost to the economic activities in the country. The Chinese capital will help establish more companies in Panama and thus create more jobs. According to the statistics, the number of Chinese tourists to Panama grew by 40% in 2018.

There is a temporary stagnation in the Panama real estate market as the supply is considerably greater than the demand. The farsighted investor will never miss the chance that this sort of “crisis” offers. 

Moreover, the Government of Panama has created super-comfortable conditions for foreign investors and foreign businesses in the country. The strong banking sector in Panama that is based on the American dollar has turned the country into a financial center of Central America. Panama opens wide perspectives indeed for the international business.

Today you can purchase real estate in Panama at much more attractive prices than they used to be before. What is even more important, these prices are much more attractive than they are going to be in the near future.

Even if you do not intend to use the property that we are about to offer as an office for your Panamanian company, you can still gain profit from renting it out. This profit is going to be quite large and stable in the long-term perspective.

Our on-site managers who have been residing in Panama City for over fifteen years will help you choose the best piece of property that conforms to your preferences. If you are interested, please send us a message to [email protected] and we will get back to you without delay.

Below please find the description of one possible piece of commercial property to buy that is located in a prestigious district of Panama City.

Fantastic offices in Tower Financial Center, right in the heart of Panama City

The Tower Financial Center building sits in the financial and business center of Panama City – Obarrio district. Walking through this district, you can easily tell locals from tourists: the former are wearing collars and ties while the latter are dressed in shorts and sandals.

Tower Financial Center – an astounding building of black aluminum and glass – dominates the intersection of two large streets: Calle 50 and Elvira Mendez. Calle 50 is one of the major transport corridors in Panama City where active business life goes on all throughout the day.

A number of skyscrapers can be found in Calle 50 hosting branch offices of more than fifty international banks. The most notable buildings in this street are Tower Financial Center, F & F Tower, and HSBC Tower.

The Tower Financial Center skyscraper has 52 stories. It is a high-tech modern building of a unique architecture that includes a fountain square in front of the Tower. A large trade center called ‘Soho’ is located nearby. You can also find such popular restaurants as ‘Coffee Max’, ‘Beruit’, ‘La Strega’, and ‘Paul’s’ in the vicinity.

You can choose the following office spaces to buy in this Tower:

Office spaces of 1,224 square meters (1,464 sq. yards)

• These offices take up the whole floor.
• It is an open space office without any supporting columns.
• The windows give the view of the Panama Bay.
• Luxury interior decorations.

Office spaces of 562 square meters (672 sq. yards)

• Such an office takes up half of the floor, so there are two of them on one floor.
• It is an open space office.
• The floor-to-ceiling windows give a partial view of the ocean and the city.
• Elegant interior decorations.

Office spaces of 246 square meters (294 sq. yards)

• Four such offices on the floor.
• Views of the ocean and the city from the windows.
• Perfect interior decorations.

There are eight Mitsubishi high-speed elevators in the lobby. The offices are under security video surveillance 24/7. Fire alarms with temperature sensors and fire extinguishing modules are also there.

The price of the office space 246 square meters in size is US$ 740 000.

There are a limited number of offices for sale in Tower Financial Center skyscraper but some are sill available.

We invite you on a familiarization tour to Panama that will allow you to see the offices with your own eyes.

Panama City is a global business center. When you purchase commercial property in the financial center of the city, you will obtain the right to apply for Panama permanent residency and at the same time you can rent the office out to Panamanian resident companies.

Panama immigration for investment programs

Panama invites foreign citizens to make investments into different sectors of economy including real estate. The Panamanian Government has implemented several dozen immigration programs that will lead to legal permanent residence in the country. 

You can use the following visa programs when you purchase some real property in Panama.

• Economic Investor visa program requires that the foreign investor purchase real property in Panama that is worth US$ 300,000 or more. If you buy property that costs less, you can put the rest of the three hundred thousand in the bank. The principle requirement is that your total investment sum is not less than the one indicated above. You can read more about this immigration program if you follow the link above.  
• Friendly Nations visa program  is a special easy access immigration program that is available to the citizens of fifty national states that Panama considers especially friendly. Citizens of Friendly Nations can obtain a permanent residence permit in Panama within three to four months since the day they apply for it. If it is an international family moving to Panama, only the primary program applicant has to have the citizenship of one of the fifty countries. The investment into real property that you have to make with this program is minimum US$ 100,000. You can find out what countries are included in the Friendly Nations list if you follow the link above.
• Pensionado visa program requires that the applicant’s guaranteed lifetime annuity be at least US$ 1,000 per month. However, on the condition that you invest minimum US$ 100,000 into real estate in Panama, proving a stable income of US$ 750 per month will suffice for acquiring a permanent residence permit. Please read more about the Pensionado immigration program by following the link above.

All the three programs require that the real property be purchased in the name of a physical person. Purchase of property in the name of a legal entity (such as a corporation, for instance) will not lead to permanent legal residence in Panama.

If you are interested to learn more about the possibilities to immigrate to Panama, we invite you to apply for a free consultation with us. Please send us a request to [email protected] and we will get in touch with you promptly.