It has been a few years since we first reported on the Azuero Peninsula region of Panama in our real estate section. This area has long been considered a cradle of traditional Panamanian customs and folklore, now one of the fastest-growing regions in an already economically flourishing country. One of the main focal points of this attention now is the ambitious Cubitá Wyndham Grand hotel/residential/commercial project currently under construction in the city of Chitre. The project combines traditional architectural motifs and materials, unique details such as a colonial chapel and museum, and state-of-the-art amenities.

What’s special about Azuero?

According to a recent economic study, the Azuero Peninsula currently outranks neighboring provinces in a number of economic indicators including per capita GDP, the nation’s highest after the province of Panama, surpassing Chiriqui, Coclé and Veraguas. More than 60 large companies with operations at the national level have established branches in Chitre in the past ten years, including retail businesses, service industries, car dealerships, restaurant franchises, health services, higher education institutions, banks, supermarkets and hotels.

Recently the United Nations Development Program gave the district of Chitre the nation’s highest marks in the human development index, a measurement of quality of life based on factors such as the education level of its population and life expectancy.

The Cubitá Wyndham Grand complex encompasses a 100-room luxury hotel scheduled to begin operations in July of this year, 26 single-family residences, 4 condominium complexes with a total of 64 apartments, a shopping plaza with 20 commercial spaces, a colonial chapel that provides the perfect setting for destination weddings, and a museum highlighting the region’s heritage and local artisans. Amenities available to both community residents and hotel guests include a restaurant, event center, pool, gym, sauna, and spa.

The doors of the elegant Tonosi Model Show Home, one of the two models of single-family residences available, opened this past November. See floor plans of the two available styles at the Cubita site.

The four condominium complexes will offer residents an ideal lock-up-and-go lifestyle, with elevators, covered parking, and the option to the apartment in a property rental and management program, earning an income for those who don’t intend to live there all year round.

More than 60 percent of the homes, apartments, and commercial spaces are sold at this point, so sign up to get more info if this coastal retirement or vacation home opportunity looks intriguing. This is a straightforward path to grab a spot in the vibrant yet charmingly laid-back Azuero region, known for the warmth of its people, the pristine beauty of its beaches, and the effervescence of its festivals.

The reason we run luxury real estate round-up articles on this travel site is that many people end up buying where they’ve traveled. Or at least come back and rent long-term. How many times have you heard someone say, “We went there on vacation and just fell in love with the place.”

For me, it was my sometimes home of Guanajuato, Mexico. Down the road are about 10,000 foreigners who felt the same about San Miguel de Allende. We’ve run articles on places in Latin America many couldn’t stand to leave: Ambergris Caye, Mendoza, Zihuatanejo, Punta de Mita, Cuenca, Bocas del Toro…

They all sound more romantic and exotic than Naples or Scottsdale, right?

Moving to a foreign country or spending part of the year there isn’t as simple as just packing up a suitcase though, so it’s worthwhile to do your homework. Moon Handbooks has a lot of good guides out, written by authors who know them well. Living Abroad in Mexico, for example, or Living Abroad in Belize. These will answer all the questions you have and a lot that you didn’t know you should have. They cover visas, cultural issues, costs, real estate, and the most important question: why there? Follow either of those links and you can search for ones on Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and more.

You can find lots of free information on the web for specific locations and if you can dig up a good message board the expats use, that’s a great place to get nitty-gritty details. For authoritative information that is current and vetted, however, you can’t beat a paid subscription to International Living Magazine. They’re often running deals for $59 a year or $89 for two years, which is a small price to pay for expert advice on a major life change. They’ll save you a lot of headaches.

They spend a good bit of each issue focusing on Latin America since it’s close to the U.S. and Canada, most of the countries are welcoming to foreigners who aren’t broke, and it’s easy to buy real estate. Apart from a few outliers here and there, you’ll almost always get more for your money than you would where you live now—with far lower monthly expenses. Click here for more.

A bit of trivia for your next cocktail party: what’s the one nation in Central America where English is the official language? That would be Belize, which also happens to be one of the best places in all of Latin America for a foreigner to buy real estate. There are great incentives in place, the prices (though not what they once were) are a bargain compared to the U.S. or Canada, and the market has been far more stable than others dominated by buyers from up north.

Our latest luxury real estate feature focuses on Ambergris Caye, Belize, long the most popular destination for both tourists and those who come and then don’t want to leave. The main town on this easy-to-reach island is a mellow place with more golf carts and pedestrians than any other mode of transportation and nobody in much of a hurry. The second-longest barrier reef in the world is right off the shore.

Usually when we run these real estate stories, there’s not much connection to the local hotel scene, but in Ambergris Caye, some of the most desirable opportunities are via luxury hotels like Victoria House and Las Terrazas. Of course you can also find your own private paradise with a boat dock elsewhere, whether it’s something built to your designs or in an eco-friendly, chic enclave with some company next door.

Get a full rundown on the options in our round-up of luxury real estate in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Like most markets that were closely tied to the U.S. housing market, the central Pacific Coast in Costa Rica went through quite a downturn the past few years. Investors who previously could depend on rapid appreciation saw their home values level off or fall. In some cases they fell quite a bit.

Situations like this always create opportunities for new buyers. They key is getting the timing right. Buy too soon and you’ll lose out too. Wait too long and you can overpay by a hundred grand or more.

Some Latin American markets seem to be stabilizing and even rising as the economy slowly picks up and more retirees head south.

Could this be the time to buy on Jaco Beach or get a hillside villa with a panoramic view in the Manuel Antonio region? Or further afield in Quepos?

See what the luxury real estate agencies in the region have to say in our latest luxury real estate round-up: Costa Rica: West Coast Property Boom Redux.

Bocas del Toro has long been the Caribbean’s Badlands, a string of islands for rugged castaways and those escaping something—or someone. This string of islands off the coast of Panama has long been touted, along with Honduras’ Bay Islands, as one of the last real values in the Caribbean.

For a while, the trajectory seemed to have nowhere to go but up and those who got in early profited handsomely for being ahead of the pack. Eventually the pack catches up, however, and the infrastructure hits its limits. Also, outside factors can have a big impact, like a complete housing crash in the U.S., for example.

One of our regular writers covering Central America, Beverly Gallagher, wrote a story several years ago on the real estate scene in Bocas del Toro and expressed a few caveats about the big boom predictions. She recently returned to scope it out again and we’ve posted the story. Check out Luxury Real Estate in a Holding Pattern on Panama’s Caribbean Islands.

As with much of Latin America, prices aren’t likely to go down much from here, if at all. Instead homes just stay on the market longer and new developers have to dangle more incentives to get people to put down a deposit. With good reason, buyers are skittish. Is it a buyer’s market? Clearly yes, but your time horizon is the key. Read the Bocas del Toro real estate article.

For just paying the region a visit, check out our Luxury Travel in Panama section.