Las Lajas Beach Panama

Playa Las Lajas, pronounced “La-Has” is about an hour east of David, Panama It is certainly a gorgeous beach, probably one of the best in the Chiriqui Province of Panama.

At low tide, the water retreats around 500 meters, revealing one of the largest all sand beaches that you will see in Panama. It stretches for 40 kilometers, and during the week you will have miles of beach to yourself.

Most of the locals think it’s the most beautiful beach on earth. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is an appealing area.

Las Lajas is one of those areas that has been stuck in a Stage 3 log jam for several years now.

Since the locals are in love with it and you could get there by car (4×4), it’s one of the places that foreigners were made aware of early in Chiriqui.

Locals overvaluing it, mixed with foreigners being interested early, made for some high land prices fast.

As with most stage 2 markets in the global real estate boom, when prices began to move, they moved fast.

Thanks to unusually high amounts of interest in real estate investing coinciding with lots of international interest in Panama, the area was able to blow right through to Stage 3, where buyers of smaller parcels arrived on the scene.

…and then came the log jam.

We’ve been watching Lajas for several years now and not much has happened. Prices outran the market as they always do, which created the Log Jam.

Raw land has been priced as if it were a Stage 4 market with finished product, when in reality, it is still Stage 3 and will be for a while.

However, we’re starting to see what could be the first indicators of change.

The road from the Pan-American highway was finally completed this year. Now you can step off the plan in David and drive to the beach in a car, rather than having to be shaken to your core in a 4×4 on one of those Central American style dirt roads.

This allows the Stage 4 buyers to come take a look, and maybe even a day trip to the beach, whereas previously many of them wouldn’t do it.

Additionally, the first hotel where a broader group foreigners would bring their family has been completed. Las Lajas Beach resort opened this year, and are doing an excellent job. This is crucial for the area to move to the next stage. The impression that people get when they visit an area like this is an important determiner of the perception of the area.

Stage 4 real estate in general in Panama is a tough business right now. Capital needed for infrastructure and development costs aren’t exactly flowing like milk and honey. Competition for those that are buying are stiff, and land prices haven’t budged an inch since the boom times, making it difficult for someone to make a new acquisition with development in mind.

That said, Las Lajas is a beautiful beach. While its unlikely that we will be making an acquisition there any time soon, we are keeping an eye on it. As a matter of fact, i’m keeping an eye on it right now next to the ocean in a hammock.

Most of the locals think it’s the most beautiful beach on earth. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is an appealing area.

Las Lajas is one of those areas that has been stuck in a Stage 3 log jam for several years now.

Since the locals are in love with it and you could get there by car (4×4), it’s one of the places that foreigners were made aware of early in Chiriqui.

Locals overvaluing it, mixed with foreigners being interested early, made for some high land prices fast.

As with most stage 2 markets in the global real estate boom, when prices began to move, they moved fast.

Thanks to unusually high amounts of interest in real estate investing coinciding with lots of international interest in Panama, the area was able to blow right through to Stage 3, where buyers of smaller parcels arrived on the scene.

…and then came the log jam.

We’ve been watching Lajas for several years now and not much has happened. Prices outran the market as they always do, which created the Log Jam.

Raw land has been priced as if it were a Stage 4 market with finished product, when in reality, it is still Stage 3 and will be for a while.

However, we’re starting to see what could be the first indicators of change.

The road from the Pan-American highway was finally completed this year. Now you can step off the plan in David and drive to the beach in a car, rather than having to be shaken to your core in a 4×4 on one of those Central American style dirt roads.

This allows the Stage 4 buyers to come take a look, and maybe even a day trip to the beach, whereas previously many of them wouldn’t do it.

Additionally, the first hotel where a broader group foreigners would bring their family has been completed. Las Lajas Beach resort opened this year, and are doing an excellent job. This is crucial for the area to move to the next stage. The impression that people get when they visit an area like this is an important determiner of the perception of the area.

Stage 4 real estate in general in Panama is a tough business right now. Capital needed for infrastructure and development costs aren’t exactly flowing like milk and honey. Competition for those that are buying are stiff, and land prices haven’t budged an inch since the boom times, making it difficult for someone to make a new acquisition with development in mind.

That said, Las Lajas is a beautiful beach. While its unlikely that we will be making an acquisition there any time soon, we are keeping an eye on it. As a matter of fact, i’m keeping an eye on it right now next to the ocean in a hammock.