Remember Panama City before the boom--when prices were low?
 
Suzan Haskins found a little city on the Pacific coast just south of Panama that she says reminds her of the very affordable Panama City of ten years ago.

Except this city has real beaches with water you can actually swim in!
 
Read on to find out where.

Dan Prescher
Publisher, International Living

$100,000 Buys You a Big Oceanfront Condo on the Pacific

Dear International Living Reader,

A decade ago, you could pick up a waterfront condo overlooking the Pacific Ocean for about $100,000 (or $100 per square foot) in a bustling, fast-growing city with great infrastructure...shopping malls, movie theaters, modern hospitals, fabulous restaurants, and more.

I’m talking about Panama City, of course. But you won’t find a front-line oceanfront condo selling for anywhere near that price today.

No worries. There’s an option for those who can’t afford Panama City but want the amenities a city offers. In Manta, the fastest-growing city in Ecuador, you’ll find all the services and facilities you expect in a modern city. You’ll also find low real estate prices that haven’t been seen in Panama City for years.

As in Panama City, high-rise condos and office buildings dot the Manta skyline and more are planned. The going price for a spacious high-rise condo in the city, high on a cliff with nothing but beach between you and the ocean...with marble floors, wood cabinetry, and built to U.S. standards is $100 per square foot.

Manta is growing quickly. It is the third-largest city in Ecuador (with 260,000 inhabitants) and the busiest and largest commercial fishing port in the world, with some of the world’s largest fish processing plants. It also has several shopping malls, many movie theaters showing the latest releases, modern hospitals, and absolutely fresh (and low-cost) seafood restaurants. It has just been announced that a new Hilton Hotel will be built here.

Ecuador has a retiree program that provides anyone (including foreigners) aged 65 or older with discounts on a variety of items from restaurant bills to airline tickets, hotels, medical bills, prescriptions, and more. Retirees even get 50% off their property taxes. Not yet 65? No worries. Property taxes, based on municipal values, are ridiculously low. The annual tax for a $170,000 house (with a municipal value of $100,000) is less than $110. And gasoline in oil-rich Ecuador is less than $1.50 per gallon.

By the way, Manta has even better weather than Panama City. You’d think that being so near the equator Manta would be brutally hot and humid. But actually, the weather is quite temperate since this is where the colder Humboldt Current and air flowing from the south meets the northbound warm El Niño. Year-round daytime temperatures in Manta average 73 degrees.

Will Manta become the next Panama City? Time will tell. But as more and more North American and European retirees find themselves priced out of booming markets like Panama, I’d suggest they consider Manta.

Regards,

Suzan Haskins
Your Latin America Insider, International Living

P.S. Manta is easy to get to. A flight from Miami to Quito takes just four hours. Once there, catch a 30-minute flight to Manta with one of three local airlines. Domestic flights cost an average of $65 per person.

Editor’s Note: To get the full story on what Suzan discovered on her trip to Manta, turn to page 14 of this month’s International Living magazine or access your online version here. Not a subscriber? Sign up here to gain instant access.

Here at IL we believe that Ecuador will be the hottest place to invest in 2009, that’s why we have decided to host our Ultimate Event IV there in March. Seats will fill up quickly so get ahead of the crowds and reserve your place today.