What's the price of a home, condo or apartment in the Panama City, Panama area of San Francisco?

There is a wide range of options when purchasing a home, condo, or apartment in the San Francisco area of Panama City. One of the things that determines the price is the age of the building.  We have older buildings (which could be 30 to 35 years old), and construction that would have been built in the last 5 to 7 years.

 

Here in Panama we classify our places in square meters as opposed to square feet, and in San Francisco you can probably get in older...

There is a wide range of options when purchasing a home, condo, or apartment in the San Francisco area of Panama City. One of the things that determines the price is the age of the building.  We have older buildings (which could be 30 to 35 years old), and construction that would have been built in the last 5 to 7 years.

 

Here in Panama we classify our places in square meters as opposed to square feet, and in San Francisco you can probably get in older building for about $1,300 to $1,500 a square meter (about $120 to $140 per square foot) and newer and nicer properties with more amenities and more social area would cost you as much as $2,000 per square meter (about $185 per square foot) or more.

 

Even at the low end of the price range, the buildings would be very safe and very well maintained. One of the main reasons for the lower price of an older building is that an older building typically will not have a social area, which you would find in newer buildings.  By “social area,” I mean swimming pools, gyms, lobbies that you can sit in, and areas where you can play with your children or grandkids and where they can go and play. The older buildings are more basic, so essentially they have a small lobby, less opulence in the lobby, and you go into your apartment.

 

The height of the ceilings has changed over time so you would have a lower ceiling in your apartment if it were older.  Newer buildings can have 10-foot ceilings, while older buildings may have a 7-foot ceiling. When you purchase older properties, unless you have it renovated, your kitchen would be more dated, but they were well built, well constructed, and they keep very well.

 

An advantage of these older buildings is because you don’t have a social area, your monthly maintenance fees or homeowner’s association dues for the condominium are much lower than for the newer building where you have a social area that you need to maintain and more staff and personnel. 

 

Higher-end apartments are those that started being delivered in 2008 and 2009.  Most of the new higher-end properties are in the neighborhood that’s called Punta Pacifica, which is actually a part of San Francisco. It’s a piece of land where there was a little bit of landfill done in order to fill in the areas and make it what it is today.  If you found something in the $2,200 a square meter (about $205 per square foot) range you would be getting a fantastic price because prices can go up to $4,000 per square meter (more than $370 per square foot) there.  Trump Ocean Clubs in the Punta Pacifica neighborhood they consider a pinnacle of luxury right now. If you buy at Trump Ocean Club, you will pay anywhere to $3,400 to $4,500 a square meter (about $315 to $420 per square foot).

 

Punta Pacifica is extremely safe. It’s developed quite nicely because there are options of restaurants, a little convenience store, little fruit markets, things to do are all within walking distance, and you’re within walking distance of supermarkets, the large Multiplaza Mall, and you’re also very close the Johns Hopkins affiliated hospital, Punta Pacifica

 

The apartments in the newer, most expensive, prestigious area of Punta Pacifica are built much more luxuriously, so as opposed to having floor ceramic tiles, you have marble floors, granite countertops, top of the line appliances, and everything in Punta Pacifica is right on the ocean so you have full ocean views. The Punta Pacifica neighborhood is one of the only neighborhoods in Panama where your building is literally on the ocean. At all the other neighborhoods, there’s either a road in between the building and the ocean or you’re just not in the ocean. Punta Pacifica has beautiful ocean views that make the neighborhood very quiet and very peaceful. The buildings themselves all come with spectacular social areas with large swimming pools, play areas, barbecue areas, and beautiful gyms.  Some of the buildings have squash courts and, racquetball courts.  Punta Pacifica is just a more opulent, luxurious lifestyle.  

 

(Punta Pacifica building in center of financial district, with residential units above the commercial ones, pictured.)