Panama real estate market — prices, rental yield and trend

• Average price: $2,919 / m²
• Gross rental yield: 7.71%
• Net rental yield: 7.26%
• Transaction cost: 8.1%
• Price basis: national average

Residential property in Panama averages $2,919 per square metre. That makes it the 168th most expensive of the 264 markets in the set.

What a buyer pays in Panama

The $2,919 figure is a national average across all residential property types, which flattens a wide spread — the capital typically runs far above it and small towns far below. Buying costs — transfer tax or stamp duty, notary, registration and agency — come to about 8.1% of the price here. On a 100 m² apartment at the average price that is roughly $23,644 on top of the $291,900 purchase price. That is below the 9.5% median across the set, which shortens the time it takes for a purchase to break even. Of that, the transfer tax alone is 0%; the rest is notary, registration and agency fees. Inside Panama we also track Panama City separately, where the average is $1,726 — 40.9% below the national figure.

What it earns

A square metre lets for about $18.8 a month. Against a purchase price of $2,919 per square metre that is 7.7% gross, before tax. Both figures come from the same source and the same period, so you can check the arithmetic yourself. It ranks 30th of 311 markets by gross yield. Rental income is taxed at 1.3–10.4% — the rate is not a single number here. That is the difference between 6.9% and 7.6% net on the same property. The 7.3% net figure we publish uses 5.8%. On the way out there is a third tax: a non-resident seller pays 10% on the gain.

How the tax works. Strongly income-dependent: under Fiscal Code art. 700 (Law 8/2010) the first USD 11,000 a year is exempt and income above it is taxed at 15% up to USD 50,000, which gives 1–10% across typical rent levels — the whole progression comes from the fixed exempt band. Residential lets longer than six months are exempt from the 7% ITBMS. Whether a non-resident gets the exempt band is inferred rather than confirmed by a tax-authority ruling; if it were denied, the rate would be 15%. Source: dgi.mef.gob.pa.

Who can buy in Panama

Freehold; concession only in the coastal and border strip. That is the rule a foreign buyer meets first, not legal advice — check the current position locally before you commit.

How this figure is built

The price figure for Panama is built from asking prices from listings. It was last refreshed on 2026-11-12. We rate our confidence in this market’s data low — treat the figures as indicative and check them before acting. We recompute every market the same way; a figure that fails our checks is suppressed, not guessed.

Sources: globalpropertyguide.com · numbeo.com. Snapshot: 2026-11-12.