Latin Americans have always had a good name for attracting hot blooded young males. Over the past few years though this has expanded into becoming a top destination for property investors due to changes in the economy and political stability.

While in the past countries like Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Venezuela and Argentina had their own little (and big) devils to fight when it came to stability, security and corruption, in today’s reality they all got something many want.

Namely great priced properties with a fancy lifestyle, gorgeous scenery and friendly locals.

If that alone isn’t enough to convince you, then read on and discover a whole new world of affordable property investments in the eternal sunshine.

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Panama City Skyline [Photo credits to Young in Panama on Flickr]

Earlier this month Fortune Magazine featured an article on ‘Panamania’, the explosive growth of Panama’s capital city in the last few years.

Panama’s economy is booming with 8.1% growth in 2006 and Panama City is the focus for a lot of this growth. The article quoted Adolfo Olloqui of Grupo Olloqui saying that Panama was inheriting the mantle of Miami (1500 km to the north) now that visa requirements are making entry to the US more difficult for many people from Central and South America (but see below). Grupo Olloqui itself was pitching to stamp its mark on the city with its Palacio de la Bahia (Palace of the Bay) which when finished in July 2009 would have been 350 metres tall, will have 97 floors, a hotel, 333 apartments, offices and commercial centres and will have cost $200m. In competition with the Palacio was the 104 storey Ice Tower residential and hotel block being developed by F & F Properties of Panama and due for completion in 2010. Since March there have been reports on the cancellation of both of these projects and in the case of the ‘Palace’ it is alleged to be a sorry tale of poor planning, lack of proper liaison with the city authorities and cost disagreements between the developer and the architect.

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After my last post on Video and real estate, I decided to run a search for ‘real estate’ on YouTube and stumbled on this interesting video news story about Panama as a retirement haven for Americans (more like Spain has been for the Brits in the last decade). The major drive for the exodus has been the purchasing power of the dollar out in Panama where the currency there is the dollar. Check the video out and tell me what you think