What's the cost to rent an apartment in the Panama City, Panama area of Casco Viejo?

Renting in  the Casco Viejo district in Panama City, Panama, is all about timing and your budget. Most one bedrooms are in the $1,000 to $1,600 range, although occasionally you find a studio for $800 or a really nicely furnished place for $1,800. Same for two bedrooms, you can start anywhere around $1,500 and move up to $4,000. It is standard to sign a one year lease leaving a 1 month deposit and paying 1 month in advance at the signing of the contract. You will be...

Renting in  the Casco Viejo district in Panama City, Panama, is all about timing and your budget. Most one bedrooms are in the $1,000 to $1,600 range, although occasionally you find a studio for $800 or a really nicely furnished place for $1,800. Same for two bedrooms, you can start anywhere around $1,500 and move up to $4,000. It is standard to sign a one year lease leaving a 1 month deposit and paying 1 month in advance at the signing of the contract. You will be requested to provide a copy of your passport and some sort of reference (banking, personal, if you have one in Panama, fantastic!).  Because there is never a lot in Casco at any given time, it all depends on what are your strongest priorities and work from there. Timing is crucial. Between furnished and unfurnished, it is your preference, just fyi: there are companies already renting furniture in Panama so you are not tied up if you loved an unfurnished apartment but really need a bed and a couple of things.  Our advice: if you see something you like, grab it!  The market here is strong as there are not that many units out there. Owners prefer a 1 year lease, although some would be open to a 6 months. They might ask you in this case to leave some money as a security that you won´t leave the electricity bill pending.  Two or three month`s lease is what we call a short term lease and there are companies like Los Cuatro Tulipanes that can help you with that. Do take notice that high season tends to be challenging if you are planning last minute. High season for us is your "winter" (which is actually "summer" here), anywhere between November to April.  Plan ahead!
 

(Casco Viejo and Casco Antiguo are different names for the same place.)
 
The smallest apartment we have to rent in Casco Viejo / Casco Antiguo is 371 square feet.  We’re starting to see more of the smaller sized apartments, similar to Europe.  The cost to rent this apartment (which is in a very, very good area, next to restaurants, the plaza, etc.) is around US $800 / month.  To give you an example of the cost to rent an apartment in a less high end area, I...

(Casco Viejo and Casco Antiguo are different names for the same place.)
 
The smallest apartment we have to rent in Casco Viejo / Casco Antiguo is 371 square feet.  We’re starting to see more of the smaller sized apartments, similar to Europe.  The cost to rent this apartment (which is in a very, very good area, next to restaurants, the plaza, etc.) is around US $800 / month.  To give you an example of the cost to rent an apartment in a less high end area, I have a 424 square foot apartment further away for $365 per month.  The price varies dramatically as per location, the view, if, for example, your apartment faces the plaza, etc.
 
Most of the renovated apartments in Casco Viejo tend to be small because they used to be parts of homes—from 1,000 square feet to 1,600 square feet.  The average 1,000 square foot apartment should rent for approximately $1,600.