Buying an apartment in the exclusive neighborhood of Costa del Este, in the town of Juan Díaz, in Panama City, is more expensive than doing so anywhere else in Central America, revealed the 2023 edition of the study “The most expensive neighborhoods in Latin America”, developed by the real estate portals Properati, Lamudi and Trovit, last November.

The information collected indicates that the average price per square meter of an apartment in Costa del Este – which is home to a large residential area, business center, shopping centers and luxurious buildings – is around $2,397. A figure well above the $1,497 it costs in the Santa Ana neighborhood (Costa Rica) or the $2,022 in Zone 10 (Guatemala).

The study, which analyzed more than 60,000 property sale advertisements issued on the three websites, was based on the currency exchange rate in force on October 31 of the current year.

In addition, the sales price of two- and three-bedroom apartments was taken into consideration and only one neighborhood per city was shown, distributed in 26 cities, in 13 Latin American countries.

Under these parameters, it is determined that the most expensive place in the region is the neighborhood of Puerto Madero (Buenos Aires, Argentina), where the square meter is around $5,485. It is followed by Del Valle (Monterrey, Mexico), with $4,071. Next comes Ipanema (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), with $4,008. It is followed by Vitacura (Santiago de Chile) with $3,733 and the ‘top 5’ is closed by the town of Carrasco (Montevideo, Uruguay).

If measured by country, the study of the square meter in the region indicates that Colombia has the largest number of expensive neighborhoods in the area, with locations such as: Chicó (Bogotá), Pance (Cali), El Prado (Barranquilla) and others .

In relation to the neighborhoods that have seen their prices reduced the most are: La Carolina (Quito, Ecuador), Las Malvinas (Rosario, Argentina), Puerta de Hierro (Argentina) and others. Although none register a decrease of more than 8% in their costs.

According to Properati, the most sought-after place to live in Panama, in 2023, is San Francisco, where the square meter is $1,903. In total, this neighborhood receives 14% of the visits that the website receives in the national territory.

Next on the list is Río Hato (Antón), with an average price of $1,650 per square meter, and María Chiquita (Portobelo), with a cost of $1,733 per square meter. “These are the sectors that are most attractive for real estate investment outside the capital. In both places there is a diverse offer, although not of great volume, between houses, apartments and land,” published the digital portal.

Properati explained that, to make this ranking, the visits they received on their website between April and June of this year were calculated.

Costa del Este was a project presented to the public in 1995 and since then it has become one of the largest real estate developments in Panama City. One of its sections where the industrial park is now located was known as the “Panama Viejo landfill.”