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USA TODAY 8/18/06 : Panama: So hot right now!
USA TODAY 8/18/06
Panama: So hot right now
PANAMA CITY — Retire in paradise for pennies a day!
...And one of the hottest spots now is Panama. The promise: Live better for less.
The country is supplanting Costa Rica as the Central American country where retired North Americans are seeking their place in the sun.
"When Panama took the canal back, we thought the gringos would leave. But noooo. They're all coming back!" Eric Del Rosario says as he drives a visitor from the airport.
There's no definitive count of Americans who have retired to Panama, but one U.S. Embassy estimate says 25,000 to 30,000 are living here. It's just part of a larger U.S. population shift to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, says Bob Adams. His company, New Global Initiatives, sponsor of a recent study by the Migration Policy Institute, estimates that at least 1 million Americans live full- or part-time in the region.
In Panama City, a forest of high-rise condos crowd Panama Bay's shorefront, where ships waiting to transit the canal appear ghostlike in the distance. Construction cranes dominate the landscape, and newer buildings sport amenities such as indoor meditation gardens and ornate balconies that look like wedding-cake trim. Interspersed are sprawling shopping and strip malls touting American brands from Tommy Hilfiger to Tony Roma.
...Demand is outstripping supply. Three years ago, one developer's condos cost about $150,000 for a 1,500-square-foot unit. Back then, 70% of the customers were local, says Manlio Vasquez of Empresas Bern, a developer of condos and hotels. Now 90% of clients are North American and prices have doubled in some spots. At any rate, there's rarely a finished project to look at. Attendees eye blueprints and architectural models and use their imaginations.
"My clients' families used to react in horror when they said they were moving here," says Rainelda Mata-Kelly, an attorney specializing in immigration law. "Now the reaction tends to be, 'Tell me more.' "
Source:
USA Today
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