Panama

Panama sits at the crossroads of the Americas, joining Caribbean and Pacific coastlines to a fully dollarized, services-driven economy built around the Panama Canal and the Tocumen air hub. For foreign buyers the key rule is favorable: non-Panamanians can own titled, fee-simple property on the same terms as citizens, with ownership recorded in the national Public Registry. The main exceptions are land within 10 kilometers of an international border, which the constitution reserves, plus the coastal tidal strip and some untitled island or rural parcels that are held through government concession or as rights of possession (derecho posesorio) rather than full title.

Transaction costs are moderate. Property transfers carry a 2% transfer tax plus a capital-gains charge, and the annual property tax exempts the first US$120,000 of value on a primary residence, with progressive rates of roughly 0.5% to 1.0% above the thresholds; many newly built Propiedad Horizontal units still qualify for multi-year exemptions on the building value. Residency routes such as the property-based Friendly Nations Visa and the long-running Pensionado retiree program, plus a territorial tax system that does not tax foreign-source income, support steady foreign demand. International tourism reached a record of about 3.0 million visitors in 2025.