Between the first seven months of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the registration of new horizontal properties went down by 19% in Panama.

According to figures from the Comptroller General of the Republic, new horizontal properties registered during the period from January to July reached their highest level in 2017, when 9,083 were reported, 19% higher than the 7,373 registered this year.

According to the Comptroller’s report, for the months in question in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the number of registered properties was 5,922, 5,496 and 4,829, respectively. 

See “Construction: Upcoming Works in Central America“

Kent Davis, CEO of Panama Equity, explained to Elcapitalfinanciero that “ … the official numbers clearly illustrate what is happening in the real estate market in Panama, because although the number of properties created is lower than in 2017, in the niche of horizontal properties there is evidence of the existence of an oversupply.“

Davis added that “ … this will have long-term consequences, because when a developer can not sell properties that they have developed in an appropriate timeframe, the ticking clock takes away their profits, because any delay in selling the asset forces them to pay more interest on interim loans acquired for the execution of the project and many times the need to put an end to this situation makes it inevitable that they drop the sales price offered to consumers.“

See also “Real estate market goes down“

“… This year what will surely happen is that the business of building horizontal properties will be less attractive, limiting supply to existing products in order to facilitate their purchase by consumers, without, as far as possible, them having to keep sacrificing part of the profits.“

See statistics from the Comptroller General of the Republic. (In Spanish)