Kevin Brass
Through booms and crashes, Kevin Brass has covered international property markets for the International Herald Tribune and New York Times. His work focuses on news and trends that impact shifting markets, providing essential information to agents, investors and consumers looking to buy or sell property.
Solid Report for Trump Project in Panama
The Trump Ocean Club, the bellwether project under construction on the bay in Panama City, is still hitting its financial and construction targets, the developers told bondholders last week. Newland International Properties sold 23 units in the first half of the year, bringing the total sold to 832 of the 1,004 condominium and hotel units, according to the report, which can be found on the Panama Investor Blog.
While there have been accounts of steep discounts and stagnant sales in other Panama City towers, the Trump project is discounting units an average of only about 13 percent, Newland told investors. The average price for a two-bedroom unit is about $683,000 or $4,452 per square meter.
Like many projects that carry the Trump name, Newland is simply licensing The Donald’s brand. Widely believed to be the most expensive of the many new towers sprouting in Panama City, the Trump Ocean Club’s progress has been closely watched, amid concern the Panama City market is over heated.
Last year the Fitch Ratings service downgraded the project, due to “the significant deterioration in global real estate markets and an increase in liquidity risks associated with the timely payment of principal and interest on the notes.” Some analysts feared that some buyers would simply walk away from their deposits, but Newland reported only eight defaults. (Buyers are required to pay 30 percent during construction and 70 percent upon completion.)
The tower remains on schedule to open in August 2010, the developers say.