2022 Pedasi Real Estate Year in Review

2022 was a strong year in Pedasi real estate. If you recall from our 2021 Year in Review, we were quite bullish heading into 2022. Our predictions were borne out, as hot real estate markets in North America and Europe provided a welcome tailwind that pushed sales throughout Panama and the Pedasi region.

Sales volumes in our main local markets- Pedasi, Los Destiladeros, and Playa Venao- were high, As a result, we enter 2023 facing a supply shortage, specifically for finished home inventory, in all price categories.

Read on to hear our take on 2022 and our tea leaf predictions for 2023. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop about new listings and Pedasi market trends.

Playa Venao

Once again Playa Venao led the charge, with virtually all existing and pre-construction home inventory now sold out. The demand for properties in Playa Venao that ramped up in 2020 shows no sign of slowing down. Here’s a fun fact as of us writing this article: If you want to buy an existing single-family home in Playa Venao today, you have one option. We don’t mean one community or one project. We mean one house.

Developers are working to bring new projects and homes to the market, but not fast enough to meet demand. In 2023, investment options in Playa Venao will be limited to a very small number of existing homes and condominiums that come up for sale. Other than that, we’ve got options for getting in on pre-construction offerings from proven developers, and a small number of home lots and larger land parcels.

The high demand for properties in Playa Venao has led to the neighboring communities of Cañas and El Ciruelo continuing to gain in popularity. Lower prices and a more relaxed, natural vibe attract buyers who don’t mind driving 5 or 10 minutes to get to Playa Venao’s bustling beachfront. While finished home inventory is still low, there are some great opportunities to pick up land and build- and some strong custom home builders to choose from.

Los Destiladeros

Los Destiladeros, arguably the most upscale and beautiful part of our area, had a banner year in 2022. Several homes were purchased in the $1MM range and the finished homes currently on the market are truly incredible- although with price tags starting at over $1MM and going up to several times that number.

If you’ve got the budget, you’ll want to explore this area to see why wealthy investors from all over the world have homes here. If $300k to $500k is more your speed, we’ve got some amazing land parcels available with sweeping ocean views and we can introduce you to great custom home builders.

Pedasi

Last but not least, our home base of Pedasí had another banner year in 2022. Buyers from primarily North America and Europe cashed in on record home prices back home to convert equity into homes and land in our beautiful town.

Purchasers had a lot of variety to choose from and invested in anything from home lots in gated beach communities, condominium units in the low $100k’s, single-family homes from $150k to over $1MM, and even some larger land parcels for farming and larger estates.

Simply put, we are in the right place at the right time. Retirees, the work-from-anywhere set, and speculative investors are already here and more are on the way. Our area offers a compelling combination of physical safety, great infrastructure, a currency pegged to the US Dollar, amazing natural beauty, and a cool vibe.

While markets in North America and Europe will lag this year due to high interest rates and other factors, historically this doesn’t have much of an effect on property values and demand in our area. We saw this in 2008/2009, when sales lagged a bit but prices hardly dropped. Most property owners in our area don’t have mortgages, so distressed sales are rare. And the vast majority of buyers are are not financing the purchase, so interest rates don’t have the same influence on sales prices that we see in other places.

So with that in mind, here are your categories for investing in real estate in Pedasi, Los Destiladeros, and Playa Venao in 2023:

EXISTING HOMES: Perhaps two dozen existing homes are available right now across all price points and all three markets. Some of you will be able to buy one of these existing homes.

NEW BUILDS: About another 10 to 20 homes will be finished and available for purchase brand new in 2023. Again, this is across all price points and all three markets.

PRE-CONSTRUCTION OFFERS: Not surprisingly, developers are gearing up to offer new projects and new phases to existing projects in all three areas. While this inventory may not be delivered for another two years or more, we’ll have some great chances to lock in pricing and inventory in the pre-construction sales phase.

NOTE: We take a very cautious approach to pre-construction and new developments. The hot market has attracted quite a few first-timers who are buying land and starting to offer products that today are little more than hopes and dreams. Some of these may be successful. Others undoubtedly won’t be. Panama Sovereign Realty only promotes pre-construction inventory from developers and builders with a proven track record. Buyer beware.

BUY LAND AND BUILD: Buy land and build a custom home. We now have not only the traditional block and stucco methods but also steel frame, prefabricated, etc. Some builders offer turn-key home builds in as little as six months and have shown us that they can deliver.

BUY LAND AND HOLD: More investors than we’ve seen in years are buying properties to store wealth. Buying land in an up-and-coming market not only offers a great likelihood that the value of the investment will grow but is also a hedge against bank shortages and the volatility of other asset classes and securities like stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrency.

To sum up, 2022 was a great year for Pedasi area real estate and the trend continues to go in the right direction. 2023 will be another growth year and we are excited to help buyers understand our market and make smart investments, safely.

We appreciate you taking the time to read this 2022 Pedasi Real Estate Year in Review. To stay in the loop on market trends and new Pedasi area listings be sure to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll make sure to keep everything short and sweet with only the most important updates.

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