Exclusive statistics to The Panama Report show real estate listing prices in Panama decreasing for first time since boom. Panama City prices mingle with those in Miami, beaches and mountains not immune to drop. Cause for concern to developers and investors or natural correction healthy for Panama in long run? All-star Panama experts sound off as to what this means for Central America's most hyped real estate market.

The hype and puffery of Panama's real estate roar manifested itself last weekend at the City's annual Atlapa convention, an event which visitors will remember less for its investment insight and more for its plethora of beautiful women, free snacks, and complimentary mouse pads embossed with seductive floor plans.

Buying real estate in a foreign country can be an exciting and daunting task, all at the same time. Panama has become a hotbed for foreign investment and a magnet for U.S. retirees. The following list outlines some of the things to think about when you find a property you like in Panama.

There are many advantages in arriving to a new real estate market before the proverbial hoards. The following though, is the best one piece of advice we can give to people looking to invest in Panama and strike it rich.

Wandering down Park Avenue in New York City recently, I was accosted by a small Indian man who I think was trying to sell me a hotdog. It was an amusing confrontation in that the man tried to guilt me into giving him money, if not for the hotdog, because he had no legs. I saw cause in his appeal and handed him a crisp one dollar bill whilst noticing the parallels of the street I was on, and our beloved Balboa Avenue of Panama City.

This is a plea to real estate agents and travel agencies alike. PLEASE pull out your thesaurus and spare us the cliché tropical dreamscapes and definitions used to lure investors to your sites. Panama property investment is great: but it's not PARADISE!

Homes in Panama come in a variety of types and sizes. Set within the former “Canal Zone,” minutes from the city of Panama, Albrook was home to a U.S. Air force base before turned over to the Panamanian government in 1999. Today, there is a domestic airport, huge bus terminal, large shopping mall, and several new housing developments which offer great options for investing in homes in Panama.

Buying into the hype that is the Panama real estate market can be an easy thing to do. You see it on TV, you read it in the magazines, you feel it in the city. What can also be easy is making costly mistakes, some of which you may not realize until after you've paid and signed the papers. Here, we've outlined ten rules to help you avoid making the typical slip-ups, blunders, and erroneous decisions associated with Panama investment. These are not by any means all of the rules, just ten small ones which may help you avoid disaster in buying real estate in Panama.

Shortly after I celebrated with friends the fact that Nikki Beach was coming to Panama, I went home to figure out just what the hell Nikki Beach actually was. I had feigned excitement and enthusiasm the way you might around a doctor boasting of a successful surgical procedure: caught in this middle ground rut where you don't really understand the subject, nor do you want to kill the mood. "A 40 hour hyper-evasive chest thoracoscopy. How exhilarating."

That a country is cheap to live in, to me, is not a good enough reason on its own to visit. On the same grounds by which I find it irrational to buy trail mix solely for the cashews or to convert to Hinduism exclusively for the cool elephant god, the influx of stingy travelers and investors to Panama who come just because the country is inexpensive, to me does not make sense.