Is Panama City a good place to retire? I hear that the real estate is reasonably priced.?

Question

I read on the internet that it is safe. It has great beaches. Hoiw is the sailing?

Answer 1

Things are different now.  Because of the great building boom of the last four years, now at its peak, propery in Panama City has jumped a staggering 300 per cent.  It would be like buying on Miami Beach now.  Very costly in rents too, just like Miami.

And now the traffic in the city is as bad as Miami's.

It is still a safe place, much safer than any other city in Central America.  True, there are places you would not want to walk in, but that is true of anywhere in the world.  For the most part, Panama is very safe and that is why I moved here.

The beaches are nice, not beautiful. and not in the city. The beaches are conveniently located fifty miles away. The rich folk who live and work in the city head for the beach on the weekend, to a little cabin or a second house and the city is much less crowded on the weekend and during holidays.

Not many sailors here. I don't know why. Not much boating at all for that matter. Boating is expensive and I guess those with the money would rather spend it elsewhere.  For all the water here you would think there would be a lot of boats but there aren't.

Still, living here, warts and all, is cheaper than living in the states.  Food is less, beer and wine and liquor is less, cable TV and internet connection is a little less, clothing and housewares (all made in China) is less. Warts: the city is noisy, it has a lot of trash strewn about and the traffic is horrendous.  So while it is not paradise, it does have some good points. The people are wonderful, warm and friendly, the climate is too, warm and friendly, no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no blizzards.

I've looked around a bunch of places and this is still tops, but, property in the city is no longer cheap. For cheap you'd have to go to the smaller cities and further away from PC.