Panama Properties Ready to Take Flight

Timing Your Panamanian Property Purchase

All that may be set to change. If you can do it properly, the time to buy may be now.

The new government is committed to giving occupants title to their land protecting their rights and creating a stable environment for investment. President Ricardo Martinelli said in his inauguration address that “We will begin a massive land titling program, so what I can tell everyone who's listening who has possessory rights, prepare these rights because you're going to have your piece of land titled.”

The new governments first attempt at improving the ROP titling process, Law 23, 2009, is a promising piece of legislation that equitably accounts for the needs of residents, investors and government. Even if it isn't implemented as well as it's conceived, it's only a matter of time before all ROP land is titled.

Panama Property Purchasing Challenges

Some of the best Panama property is claimed under the confusing ROP system instead of being fully titled. The best deals will be for land that isn't fully titled. Once titled, the competition for prime Panamanian properties will be much greater and the price much higher, but the risk will be much lower.

Under the ROP system, it is quite possible to find several conflicting claims to a plot of land, both registered and unregistered. This can cause a situation where the person selling the ROP may not actually be in a position to sell. The difficulties that some developers have had with ROP has scared a number of potential investors, but it has also educated people about the risks so they can now do something about them.

 Investing in Panamanian ROP Properties

All it takes to discover these problems is a little investigation. Competing claims typically come from family members and neighbors so it is fairly straightforward to send investigators in to a potential land purchase to interview and get signed affidavits from  the family and neighbors.

Even with the recent correction in real estate prices, Panamanian vacation properties have a lot of promise. Tourism continues to grow and so do the number of foreigners looking to buy a holiday property in Panama. It's possible to buy ROP land quite safely with a little knowledge and effort and soon those ROP holdings will be fully titled.