Chart of the Week
One chart, one finding, every Thursday. We take the numbers Panama actually records — Registro Público closings, INEC, the Canal, the banks — put them next to how McKinsey, CBRE and the IMF frame global markets, and publish what they say, including when it contradicts the pitch.
The asking-price mirage
Sellers ask 7% to 26% more per m² than buyers pay — and the gap is widest where inventory piles up.
No. 2 · Oct 1, 2026Cement caught up with permits
After a 38% drop in Q1, cement output is up 11% year to date — a private-led recovery that is real but still incomplete.
No. 3 · Oct 8, 2026Newer, not richer
In El Cangrejo the newest towers cost 54–57% more per m² than a 2006 tower but rent for only 6–21% more, so they yield less.
No. 4 · Oct 12, 2026The count keeps growing
Three days after the 9 October earthquake, Panama’s official count of damaged homes rose from 142 to more than 1,280. Most damage is in Azuero, not Panama City.
No. 5 · Oct 15, 2026Who is borrowing
About 65% of the growth in Panama’s local loan book to August 2026 went to the public sector; the residential mortgage balance held almost flat (−0.17%).
No. 6 · Oct 22, 2026Where sales fell
Panama’s residential sales fell 13% to $695M in the first half of 2026; homes up to $120,000 fell 28.3%, more than four times the drop above that price.
No. 7 · Oct 29, 2026Permits moved west
Approved construction permits reached $597.6M in the first half of 2026 (+20.2%); Arraiján rose 322.6% while the Panama district, with 73.3% of the value, rose 7.6%.
No. 8 · Special edition · Nov 12, 2026Panama 2027: the investor’s dashboard
Eight charts in one page: growth forecasts of 4.1–4.5% for 2027, $12.8 billion of budgeted public investment (+12%), a flat mortgage balance, and asking prices 7–26% above closings.
- The chart title states the finding, with a number.
- Every figure is sourced and dated; derived numbers are labelled as Brax calculations.
- Each chart has a table view, so the data is readable by you, by search engines and by AI assistants.
- We say what the chart does not prove, and disclose when a finding touches a project Brax sells.
Get the Brax Chart of the Week
One chart, one finding, every Thursday. Registry numbers, not brochure numbers.