Panamanian real estate company Estatic has said sales in the country’s real estate market have plunged in recent months due to a slump in demand from international buyers.

Estatic’s president, Jorge Fernandez, said sales fell 4.6 per cent in January, compared with the same period last year.

“It is a sign of the economic slowdown,” Mr Fernandez said.

Estatory also reported a sharp drop in the number of condominium sales in January from the previous month.

“We’ve seen a drop of 12 per cent, a fall of 2.7 per cent and that is the biggest drop of any month since the beginning of the year,” Mr Fernandez said.

Mr Fernandez added that the real estate sector in Panama has become an “economic minefield”.

He said many condominium projects were undervalued and that the local real estate agent had become increasingly reluctant to sell condominiums to foreign investors.

Mr Fennig said that condominium development has been a key factor in the collapse in prices.

Estação realestate de Esta, which represents condominium developers and developers, said in a statement that the “price slump has affected all the development projects in Panama”.

“This has created a massive crisis of supply in the condominium market,” it said.