Our latest real estate feature is on the bustling, red-hot market of Panama City, Panama.

If the fundamentals weren’t so strong, this would be looking like a bubble. It did take a slight breather when the U.S. recession hit, but unlike other Latin American retirement markets that depended on the yankees, this one is more diverse. Many of the buyers the past five years have been part of the “Chavez effect”: wealthy people moving their money out of Venezuela (and others that look to be headed that direction, like Bolivia). Other buyers are Latinos from countries where the political situation is more business-friendly, but they want to own property in this crossroads of the Americas, a stable country with a good banking system.

And of course Europeans, Canadians, and Americans are still a big part of the mix, especially those who like the combination of business opportunities, moving incentives, and the ability to keep their money in a place where it won’t get taxed heavily.

So while prices here are lower than they would be in other major world banking and commerce capitals (lower even than Mumbai, India, for example) you’re not going to swoop in and find fire sale bargain. Skyscrapers are selling out half or more of their units before the building is completed. The new Trump Ocean Club, which is a sail-shaped structure like the Burj Dubai, sold more than 80 percent before the doors opened, despite a price range of $250K to $1 million. The Yoo complex, with interiors by Philippe Starck, is seeing similar pre-sale numbers.

The Trump tower topped everything south of the U.S. for height, at 284 meters. Panama City now has the three tallest skyscrapers in Latin America. With the canal and protected forest on one side, the ocean on the other, there’s nowhere to go but up!

See the full story here: Luxury Real Estate in Panama City, Panama.

Our Trump hotel review isn’t up yet (it just opened its doors last week), but here are links to all the reviews of the best luxury hotels in Panama.

I visited the Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo area for the third time a few weeks ago. I spent part of that checking out the hotel scene and the rest touring luxury homes for vacation or retirement. As I’ve heard in many favorite vacation spots, there’s a lot of inventory on offer and there is not a lot of movement in the market.

Long story short, the foreign buyer housing markets in Mexico (and Costa Rica, Boquete, Roatan, and other spots) were driven by all the cash being thrown off by the U.S. market. People took out a home equity loan and bought a house abroad, or they sold one in the U.S. and bought something bigger and better in a place with nicer weather.

So if you’re liquid enough to buy real estate outright, there’s plenty to pick from in Zihuatanejo, lots of homes with magnificent interiors and magnificent views. Usually they are sold furnished, so once the paperwork is done you just bring your clothes and move in.

Don’t expect a foreclosure bargain though: it’s hard to get decent financing in Mexico, so most people own their homes outright. That enables them to be much more patient unless life circumstances are forcing a sale.

If you follow the link to the story, you’ll find a lot more details and some photos that may want to make you book a flight right now. Luxury Homes with a View in Zihuatanejo

In our coverage of luxury real estate opportunities for vacation and retirement homes, we like to point out up and coming areas sometimes that have big upside potential. Right now one of those is the Tulum area of Mexico. From the Tulum ruins down to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere, development has been limited and there are natural constraints on how much building can happen in the future.

Nevertheless, when the Mexican government taps an area for increased tourism, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Right now there’s a new international airport going in that can serve a few million visitors a year. This will make it easier to get to the Riviera Maya resorts south of Playa del Carmen and to the eco-friendly resorts on Tulum’s beaches. Tulum’s main beach is, in my opinion, the best one in eastern Mexico, partly because it’s not as overdeveloped as all the others to the north.

There are some interesting properties on offer in this region that could see a major increase in value after the infrastructure improvements are in place. Want to buy your way into a new business, operating a hotel? Want to build a custom villa on beachfront land with no neighbors? See the full feature here: Tulum and Sian Ka’an Luxury Real Estate.

I got quoted in this Fox Business News story about buying real estate abroad, so of course we think it’s worthy of a read. Called What you need to know before buying foreign property, it’s specifically about whether it’s worthwhile to go on a real estate tour that gives you a crash course in the local market.

I can’t say I’ve ever been on one of those tours, but I’ve talked with a few people who have and were happy that they did it. The biggest obstacle for most people in buying real estate in Latin America is figuring out the landscape: what’s the real value, what are the laws, how does the process work? If you rent somewhere for six months or a year, you’ve got time to figure all that out. If you’re trying to buy more quickly, however, you can make some major blunders if you don’t get good expert advice. Most markets don’t have an MLS and all you have to do to be a real estate agent is print up business cards saying you are—no license required.

I prefer the tours run by the likes of International Living and Pathfinder over the ones focused on a specific development. Sure, there are lots of discounts built in because the sponsors are hoping you’ll buy something, but there’s not the kind of pressure you get from a single developer who is incurring costs to have you there. There are lectures and Q&A sessions from agents and legal experts, plus you get to see a range of properties to get a decent feel for the market. As always, ask independent questions on your own and do your own research in addition, but you’ll leave one of these real estate tours with far more knowledge than you had going in.

See the full article here.

See more stories about real estate in Latin America.

In Mexico’s central highlands, picture-perfect San Miguel de Allende has become gringo central for retirees. Tens of thousands of Norte Americanos make this their home at least part of the year. This includes more than a few millionaires who have diversified part of their fortune in a place where the weather is fine all year and excellent health care is affordable.

Being that this real estate market is so tied to what’s happening in the U.S., however, naturally things took a dive when the real estate bubble burst in the land where most of that investment was coming from. Fewer buyers started showing up awash in cash and those who had bought in Mexico with home equity money from a house back home found it tougher to unload their $million+ Mexican showpiece.

Things are starting to pick back up again as the U.S. stock market rises again and the recession is winding down. Does that make this the perfect time to buy? If you are in it for the long haul, yes. The agents I talked to and saw houses with said while prices are not ticking up yet, they seem to have hit a bottom. That bottom is 20-40% from the peak three years ago, so you may not be able to expect a quick flip, but you should have solid appreciation over time.

For what you can expect to get for your money in this popular city, see our new real estate article, San Miguel de Allende for Millionaires.