Panama Luxury Real Estate | Panama Sovereign Realty
Panama Luxury Real Estate | Panama Sovereign Realty
Panama Luxury Real Estate | Panama Sovereign Realty
Pedasi is a charming coastal community situated on Panama’s “Tuna Coast” that offers beautiful beaches and an idyllic, laid-back lifestyle. A growing destination for expats and retirees, Pedasi delivers a unique blend of Central American culture with a sizable splash of American and European influences.
From traditional festivals to pristine golden sand beaches, Pedasi has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for adventure or just want to sit back and relax, you can carve out a beautiful life in Pedasi.
Pedasi is a small town and district of around 3000 inhabitants on the SE corner of Panama’s Azuero Peninsula. Most Pedasieños, as we’re called, live within a mile or so of the town center. The town is surrounded by ranchland and farms and it may surprise you that the town center is actually 2 miles from the nearest beaches.
Pedasi is a small town and district of around 3000 inhabitants on the SE corner of Panama’s Azuero Peninsula. Most Pedasieños, as we’re called, live within a mile or so of the town center. The town is surrounded by ranchland and farms and it may surprise you that the town center is actually 2 miles from the nearest beaches.
Pedasi is located in Panama’s “Dry Arc” on the south-eastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula, about a 4-hour drive or a 30 minute flight from Panama City. Positioned on the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by rolling green hills and tropical dry forest that stretch as far as the eye can see, Pedasi offers the best of a rural coastal landscape and lifestyle.
Pedasi offers the necessary amenities to keep you happy and healthy. You can find specialty food items, fresh organic produce, all household essentials, and a recently-built hospital with 24-hour emergency room in town. There are also a surprising number of great restaurants, many hotels both in the town center and on the beach, and an expanding array of other local businesses and services.
Pedasi offers a wide variety of property options. Beachfront homes are at a premium, but buyers are also snapping up homes near the town center. Inventory of finished homes is limited. Builders and developers have stepped in to offer new products and custom homes. Improving infrastructure and the pandemic-era shift to rural living are fueling the hottest market conditions in over a decade.
Pedasi offers residents a choice of lifestyles, from rustic and simple to modern and luxurious. Residents can spend the morning at home with an espresso, reading in their poolside hammock, or taking a long walk on the beach.
In contrast, those who prefer to get-up-and-go can partake in Pedasi’s incredible outdoor pastimes. The region offers world-class deep-sea fishing, world-class surfing, stand-up paddle-boarding, scuba diving, whale watching, birding, horseback riding, triathlons, and a multitude of other outdoorsy opportunities..
Many expats living in the Pedasi area are retired, work remotely, or own and operate a business in the region. There are retirees, young families, and digital nomads. As a result, you'll find all types of lifestyles and routines among the people you meet in Pedasi.
Pedasi is home to a small population, giving it an intimate feel with approximately 4,000 residents depending on the season. It’s a diverse community of people from around the world. You probably expect to hear Spanish in Panama, but don’t be surprised to overhear some French, Italian, or Hebrew over dinner in Pedasi!
Pedasi locals are called “Pedasieños”, and they couldn’t be more friendly and inviting- one of the biggest benefits of coming to live in the area. It’s a tight-knit town where everyone knows each other and there is a real community feel. Family ties are strong here, and cattle ranches and farms have been passed from generation to generation. The town is rich with history and proud tradition, and the locals are eager to share it with others.
Pedasi has a growing array of amenities to support the variety of international tastes. The town has several medium-sized grocery stores that carry a respectable selection of local and imported products. If you can’t find a particular cheese, wine or ice cream, just ask, and if it’s sold in Panama the grocers will make sure it arrives in the next delivery. Larger grocery stores and big box stores are a short drive away in Las Tablas and Chitre, though most items you can now find in Pedasi. If all else fails, you can order it online and it will usually be delivered to your door within a week or two.
For its size, Pedasi offers an impressive variety of restaurants with authentic cuisines from around the world. You can find great American, Italian, French, and even Romanian food as well as local favorites, at all price points.
Like many Central American towns, Pedasi’s town center features a charming plaza that is anchored by its beautiful Catholic church. The town square, known locally as “el parque”, is bordered by shops, restaurants and hotels and fills up with tourists during Pedasi’s many festivals.
Pedasi’s Main Street also features the town hall, the main office of Panama Sovereign Realty (Pedasi’s hardest-working real estate agents), Smiley’s Restaurant and The Bakery- all local Pedasi institutions. Pedasi also has three gas stations, two banks, and a police and fire department.
Both Pedasieños and our expat community are heavily into civic and volunteer activities such as beach clean-ups, food drives, pet sterilization clinics, and more.
For a small town that’s a 4.5-hour drive from the capital, Pedasi’s infrastructure is pretty darned good. The main roads have been recently redone and are arguably the best in the country. The power transmission system has also just received a big upgrade in the form of insulated power lines which should help reduce (or eliminate) outages. The municipal water storage and distribution systems are also being improved and expanded to meet rising demand, which is especially important towards the end of our dry summer months.
Telecommunications are modern with cell service, cable television, and fiberoptic internet available throughout the Pedasi region– an important feature for those who want or need to work remotely or open a business. Cable and Wireless just installed fiber optic cables throughout town, as well as to residential areas such as Andromeda, Costa Pedasi, Haciendas del Toro, Roy’s Community on Arenal Road, Playa Venao, and Cañas.
The local government is planning several infrastructure projects, including a complete refurbishment of the Pedasi town square and a massive upgrade of our trash removal and processing system. They are also connecting the public power grid to the few kilometers between Playa Venao and Cañas that don’t have it yet.
The road between Pedasi, Playa Venao, and Cañas is now completely redone, simplifying travel between these key areas. This finishes the completely new highway system between the Panamerican Highway and Cambutal at the “end of the road” past Playa Venao. The eastern Azuero Peninsula now has arguably the best highway system in the entire country- all rebuilt within the last few years.
Pedasi offers all of your favorite classic coastal activities, from deep-sea fishing, surfing, and whale-watching to scuba diving and kite surfing. It has many beautiful beaches with warm, shallow water perfect for swimming. You can also find adventurous land-based activities like hiking, horseback riding or even zip-lining through the forest in Cañas.
The Pedasi region offers some of the best close-to-shore deep-sea fishing in the world. You can catch marlin, sailfish, grouper, rooster, and yellow-fin tuna and more in these warm and fertile waters. There are plenty of captains to hire for day trips- typically taking you out with one of the classic fiberglass ‘pangas’- open boats with outboard engines. Many residents have their own boat and head out regularly on their own.
A 30-minute drive from Pedasi; Playa Venao offers some of the best surfing in Panama and is also a great spot for beginners to learn. The crescent-shaped beach is a popular vacation destination with a growing number of hotels, restaurants, and surf shops. The nightlife in Playa Venao is becoming something of a scene, with music festivals like Ibiza Sonica attracting hundreds of sun-seekers, both young and young-at-heart, every year.
Pedasi is an eco-rich landscape, with diverse wildlife to enjoy and observe. The area offers extensive birdwatching, with 62 species calling the nearby wildlife refuge of Isla Iguana home. Several hard-to-get life list species can be sighted relatively easily off the Pedasi coast. You can also go whale-watching between July and November, witness the ancient ritual of nesting sea turtles from about July to November, and snorkel through schools of fish, fevers of rays, and beds of eels year-round in one of the best coral reefs in Panama.
With a growing community of people from around the world, there are also amazing community events. From happy hours and live music to volunteering and language learning, there are plenty of opportunities to get out and socialize in Pedasi.
Pedasi has become increasingly popular with expats over the last decade, and people from around the world are drawn to the area’s natural beauty, low cost of living, growth opportunities, and relaxed lifestyle. As a result, the Pedasi real estate market has evolved to include a range of more modern housing options that reflect the international tastes of residents.
For buyers, new, custom-built homes in Pedasi range from around $200K and can reach up into the multi-millions of dollars. The inventory of finished homes under $500k is limited, but builders and developers are stepping in to meet the growing demand. A popular option for our clients is to purchase a plot of land and work with a builder to create their dream home. Build lots are available in both of the gated beachfront communities in Pedasi and also in other beautiful communities like Haciendas del Toro in Pedasi, and Wind Beach or Villas del Puerto in Los Destiladeros.
Over the past 20 years the Pedasi property market has been driven mainly by residential and commercial developers, retirees from North America and Europe, and speculative investors. Between 2005 and 2008, several residential communities were begun in Pedasi and initially, sales were brisk and the outlook rosy. But the world-wide economic crisis of 2008 dealt a strong blow to Panama’s and Pedasi’s real estate markets. From 2008 onward, not only were buyers quite scarce, but many people who had bought at the height of the market suddenly found themselves forced to sell. The result was an unfortunate mix of too much supply and not enough buyers. This dynamic largely defined Pedasi’s property market for many years. That is, until recently.
Since early 2020 a kind of “perfect storm” of factors have been fueling the growth and resurgence of Pedasi’s real estate market. Vast improvements in Pedasi’s infrastructure are occurring just when the global pandemic has caused us all to re-think how and where we want to live our lives. The brand-new highway, fiber optic internet, upgrades to the power grid and town water supply, and international schools have made Pedasi a very attractive place to live for everyone.
Younger families are now moving to the area- from both inside and outside of Panama. Some are entrepreneurs who’ve opened businesses. Others are taking advantage of being able to work online. Others are investing in rental properties to take advantage of an increasingly viable rental market. And new residential developments continue to attract snowbirds. Now more than ever there is something for everyone in Pedasi.
Rental properties continue to be a compelling investment as demand for modern, well-maintained rentals continues its upward trajectory in the Pedasi area. Not only is demand for short-term vacation increasing, but the growing number of expats who prefer to rent for 6 months to a year before they buy means that homeowners have a steady supply of medium and long-term rental clients too.
Homeowners can reasonably expect a low-end average of 3-5% ROI and as much as 8-10%+ depending on the particular property, rental period and management cost.
A small but growing number of custom home builders are working in Pedasi, bringing beautiful modern homes to market. These homes meet international building standards and integrate North American and European tastes while paying homage to the traditional Panamanian esthetic.
If you’re looking to build custom, we have an incredible selection of raw land throughout the region and we’re more than happy to share our roster of vetted builders with you.
We also invite you to read our 2022 Pedasi Real Estate Year in Review for additional market insights and analysis.
And as always, we look forward to seeing you in Pedasi!
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Calle Principal nº 1
Pedasí Cabecera
Los Santos, Panamá 0749
Real Estate License PJ-1384
