It’s time for another luxury retirement home and vacation real estate story on a spot on the Pacific coast: the Riviera Nayarit of Mexico.

This is the catch-all marketing name for the coastal region starting at Nuevo Vallarta (just north of the Puerto Vallarta airport) and extending past the Punta Mita development to Sayulita and on up. In general, the further north you go, the less developed it is.

The cement trucks have been busy in this area, including one big eyesore failed hotel you’ll pass, but in general the projects here are less dense, more in tune with nature, and less about stripping away the beachside vegetation to build giant all-inclusives and high-rise condos. That means the homes in this area are aimed at the wealthy, those who can afford big plots of land with big villas on top.

One of our contributors wrote this story, not me, but I have to admit this is one of my favorite coastal areas in all of Latin America. Dramatic, scenic, and quiet, with big waves and small towns. The homes here are some of the most spectacular in all of Mexico and it’s pretty hard to top these views anywhere.

See our full story on luxury real estate in the Riviera Nayarit.

In case you missed it, here’s our earlier round-up on Punta Mita real estate and here are the best hotels in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.

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.

A while back we covered luxury real estate in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico at the end of 2010, but the latest and greatest new in-city development was mostly a giant construction zone then. At the height there were 900 workers scurrying around getting Artesana Residences off the ground.

This ambitious project shares the big expanse of acreage the new Rosewood San Miguel sits on and owners here are free to use the facilities there, like the spa, the gym, and the best hotel swimming pool complex in town. It’s all just a few blocks from the historic center though and right by the city’s largest park. So residents here get the kind of modern infrastructure and sensible layouts they would get in a development in the suburbs, but in a pedestrian-friendly area with all the great restaurants and bars around.

This project takes everything up a notch as well, thanks to the “spare no expense” attitude of the experienced developers. For buyers who can afford the best and are willing to pay for it, Artesana Residences will please all of them except ones looking for a colonial house with history or those looking for land/privacy. (These are villa homes right up next to each other.)

Every residence has an elevator. Parking is all underground. Deliveries happen from underground, not from the pedestrian-only main thoroughfare. Pressurized water comes through a filtration system. And of course there’s 24-hour security, a remote-controlled gated entrance for cars, Viking appliances, top-notch central climate control systems, high-end fixtures, gas fireplaces, etc. Units don’t come furnished though, so you need to work with their designer to source all that if you want to be part of the rental pool. The good news is, you can get a lot of things custom made in this city of artisans for a very reasonable price.

Units run from two bedrooms and 2,300 square feet to five bedrooms spread over 8,800 square feet, with 17 different layouts in all. See the floor plans here. Two and three-bedroom units run $615K to $1.5 million, with the very largest villa going for $2.4 million. This being mortgage-scarce Mexico you’ll need to truly wealthy rather than aspirational: you have to pony up most or all of that in cash and monthly maintenance will run another $450 to $710 depending on square footage.

Much of the Phase 1 development was still undergoing interior construction when I visited in May, but the units that were finished were real showpieces. In a city full of beautiful homes, these will fit right in. The village feel is a nice bridge between old and new: it’s built on a human scale that encourages strolling and interaction, but it’s got the dedicated garage parking and brand new wiring/plumbing that you don’t usually get in el centro.

When all three phases are complete, there will be 123 units. That will take a while in the current real estate climate, but with current sales running 50/50 between foreigners and Mexican nationals, not as long as some American-only coastal developments. And you don’t have to wait for any of the common areas to be done: they’re all up and running at the Rosewood.

For more information see ArtesanaSanMiguel.com.

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.