It’s small wonder that Panama, the squiggle of a country linking Central and South America, is tipped as on of the world’s property hotspots for 2008.
It has the world's largest shipping registry, the world's second-largest free trade zone (after Hong Kong) and the region's largest international banking district.
And all of these are expected to grow as the Canal is expanded to alleviate traffic and accommodate the world’s largest ships.

Globetrotting celebrities have long appreciated Panama’s many attractions. Mick Jagger jets out there when he fancies a spot of big-game fishing, Bill Gates owns land there, and Pierce Brosnan and Michael Douglas have been known to drop in on vacation.

In America, Panama has long been regarded as a great place for an overseas holiday home or investment property - and now British investors are fast catching on.

Whether you long for a beach hideaway, a bougainvillea-filled courtyard in a colonial retreat, a quiet valley home surrounded by snow-capped peaks, or an elegant apartment in a cosmopolitan city…they‘re all on offer in Panama - at very attractive prices.
New one and two bedroom condos in Coronado start at £89,000, with new villas in Gorgona at £74,000. In cosmopolitan Panama City, £407,000 buys a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house in the beautiful uptown neighbourhood of El Avance.

Last year was an exciting year for Panama, including becoming the fastest-growing economy in the region and top for foreign investment. The Panama Canal expansion project is underway, along with major port expansions, and this is one of many projects expected to fuel the economy until 2011. With the Canal and Tocumen International Airport, Panama is already known as the whirring hub of the Americas, but the country may soon also be a regional energy hub, with a $40billion oil refinery, petrochemical production facility, and natural gas import terminal.

The construction boom is still going strong. By mid-2007 there were 380 construction projects in the works.

London & Regional Properties (L&R) recently signed agreements to turn the Howard area, on the west bank of the Canal, into an immense residential/business community with its own tax regime, dubbed the Panama-Pacific Special Economic Area (AEEPP). L&R describes the $750million project as one of the world's largest development deals, but a $2.4billion project nicknamed Panamarina could end up being even bigger, transforming sleepy Veracruz, on the southern coast, into a world-class marina and tourism community.

With all this development going on, the government is trying to stay a step ahead, and already has several important infrastructure projects in the pipeline - including road, water, and power projects.

At Devon-based AGS Properties http://www.agsproperties.com, who specialise in Panama, Tony Sparkes says: “Panama is going through an exciting period. Those who invest there as this early stage will undoubtedly reap the rewards.”