PANAMA'S CONDOS - CHEAP BY WORLD STANDARDS

By SAM TALIAFERRO - BUSINESS WEEK | Published: June 9, 2008;

Panama condo's cheap by world standards This article from Businessweek highlights the 10 most expensive real estate markets in the world and shows you what $1.5 million will buy there. With prices as high as $6191 a square foot in London, Panama, at even $500 a square foot looks down right cheap by comparison. Of course Panama is not the Monaco or Hong Kong, but with prices less than 1/10 maybe even the very rich will downscale as the world economy slows.

Excerpt; David Michonski, CEO of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy in Manhattan, says the softening of international real estate markets is a "normal correction in a major long-term bull market that started 10 years ago." He adds: "I don't believe it's a function of the credit crisis. It's a confidence issue at this point.… Everybody in the world has been told that wherever the real estate markets are, they're going to fall."