Latest Sales Numbers from Trump Project in Panama

Posted in Real Estate on September 06, 2010 by Kevin Brass

Eighty-five percent of the 905 units in the Trump Ocean Club have been sold, according to the latest statement from the developers of the closely watched project in Panama City.

For the first half of 2010, the development reported $24 million in sales, including a bulk sale of 27 units for $6.2 million, reports Sam Taliaferro in his Panama Investor blog. That would put the average price for the 27 condos at $230,000, which is low for a development considered at the top end of Panama City’s market.

But the big unanswered question for the development: How many of the buyers will actually close on their units, especially those who paid top dollar in the boom years? According to the latest report, 26 units worth a total $14.7 million were classified as defaulted and returned to inventory in the first half of the year. (And while it’s not an apples to apples comparison, it’s worth noting the average price of the defaulted units was closer to $565,000.)

The project, which licenses the Trump name, expects to begin closing sales at the end of the year. In March, project sales consultant Jack Studnicky said 11 buyers had defaulted, and only about 95 had put their units into a resell program, raising hopes among the developers that there wouldn’t be a wave of buyers walking away from their units.

Tags: Panama, Latin America

Comments

0 # 2010-09-07 03:19

Like everything else regarding Panama's so-called development, the numbers just don't add up.According to this report 26 units worth a total $14.7 million were classified as defaulted and returned to inventory in the first half of the year.Yet in March(in the first half of the year)11 buyers had defaulted, and only about 95 had put their units into a resell program..it would appear more than 40% of the buyers are backing away from this turkey..If you had 24 million in sales and 14 million of it defaults in the first half of the year should you be pleased...Trump needs to come to Panama and fire the apprentices running the PR and the accounting. The numbers and the optimism just don't jive.

0 # 2010-09-09 01:36

It is very difficult to get any answers from them. They still do not have the information on the HOA regs for the condo units. How can you buy something when you do not know when you will even be able to use the unit? It is difficult to get someone to call you back, etc. I have now been waiting about 2 months since I asked them to call me as I have contacted them several times. I do not know how they sell any units with this type of service. I tried to talk to another real estate agent, but Trump told them I was listed under Trump so the agent could not deal with me. But they won't contact you back! I don't see how they can close this year because it doesn't look to be finished that soon.

Refresh comments list
RSS feed for comments to this post.

Add comment

JComments

IPJ Report

A daily feed of news and analysis on the international property business.

RSS	Author: Kevin Brass has covered the quirks and trends of the global property industry for many than 20 years, including regular features and analysis in the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times.