So which is the better buy, the Dominican Republic or Panama?

This page does not pick one, and the reason is the rule it runs on: half the comparison is not sourced here, so any verdict would rest on the half that is missing. What it gives you instead is one documented column and the questions that fill in the other. Put those questions to a Panamanian attorney and tax specialist, get the answers in writing, and the comparison is yours to make on facts rather than brochures.

Why are there no Panamanian tax rates anywhere on this page?

Because no sourced Panamanian figure was available to write them with, and a number that cannot be sourced does not get published here — not even one that is probably right. The Dominican figures above each carry the law they come from: CONFOTUR is Law 158-01 of 2001, amended by Law 195-13. Ask for the equivalent citations on the Panamanian side and that answer becomes checkable the same way this one is.

Does buying at Secret Garden give me Dominican residency?

Nothing here says it does. The investment route is described as having a US$200,000 minimum and residences start at $233,000, but the sources disagree about whether a real estate purchase counts as a qualifying investment at all, and above what value. The point is not settled, so it is one for a Dominican immigration attorney to answer against your own circumstances. Residency is also separate from tax residency, which is tested at 182 days.

Can a foreigner own the condo outright, in their own name?

In the Dominican Republic, yes — title is registered in the buyer's own name, with no local partner or trust structure required and no residency precondition. For Panama, that is the first thing to establish in writing: whether a foreign buyer may hold the specific parcel directly, whether any coastal or border restriction touches it, and what a local holding company would cost to maintain if one turns out to be needed.

Buying process

Dominican Republic vs Panama: What Is Documented, and What You Must Ask

Published September 4, 2026 7 min read

Buyers who shortlist a Caribbean purchase usually end up with two names: the Dominican Republic and Panama. Secret Garden sits on the Dominican side of it, in Los Corales, with residences from $233,000. What follows states the Dominican position with the law behind each figure, and writes the Panamanian side as questions for a Panamanian attorney — no sourced Panamanian figure exists on this desk. An asymmetry you can audit beats a symmetry you cannot.

Why this comparison is deliberately lopsided

This page can stand behind one of its two columns. The Dominican Republic is the market this development sits in, and every Dominican figure below is written with the statute it comes from. Nothing on this desk sources a Panamanian rate, threshold or price — so none is printed here, not even one that is probably right.

In their place are the questions that get you that half from someone qualified to answer them: slower than a table of paired numbers, and the only route this page can offer without inventing the second column.

Who may hold title, and in whose name

In the Dominican Republic a foreign buyer is registered as owner in their own name, on the same footing as a Dominican national: no local partner, no trust, and no residency requirement to buy. That is the position stated plainly, with no statute number attached — the same standard to hold the Panamanian answer to. A buyer at Secret Garden in Los Corales takes title as a Dominican buyer would.

Get these Panamanian answers in writing first:

Is the parcel titled land, or held under another form of right — and what does that do to a resale?
Are there coastal or border zones restricted to foreign buyers, and does this one sit in them?
Is a local company or resident agent needed to hold it, and what does that cost each year?

Rendering of a residence building at Secret Garden, Los Corales — one of 327 residences, the Dominican side of this comparison.

Tax: only one side of this comparison is written down

The Dominican incentive buyers ask about is CONFOTUR — Law 158-01 of 2001, amended by Law 195-13 in 2013 — which relieves approved tourism projects, Secret Garden among them. At a qualifying project the law removes the 3% transfer tax due on registering the title, and provides a fifteen-year exemption from the annual property tax, the IPI, counted from completion of construction. Three conditions are usually left out: only a first buyer from the developer is inside it, not a resale; the relief must be filed and recorded against the title, not granted automatically; and those fifteen years are the period the statute writes for qualifying projects, not a term an owner should assume. The IPI is 1%, on value above a yearly-adjusted threshold.

Rent is assessed separately from the property. A non-resident owner's rental income carries a 27% withholding on gross receipts, with no deductions, and short-stay tourist accommodation attracts ITBIS at 18%, for which the owner and not the booking platform is liable. Rates change: have a Dominican attorney confirm the current position before you model anything.

For Panama, get the same three in writing: the transfer tax and who pays it; any annual property tax and any relief for new construction; and the tax on a non-resident owner's rental income.

Residency, tax residency, and the currency your numbers are in

A residency-by-investment route is described as having a US$200,000 minimum, alongside Law 171-07 streams for pensioners and for foreign passive income at US$1,500 and US$2,000 a month. Whether real estate alone satisfies it is not settled: the sources disagree about whether a property counts at all, and above what value. Nothing here claims a purchase at Secret Garden delivers it. A residency permit is also not tax residency, which the Dominican Republic tests at 182 days.

Currency is the difference buyers notice last and live with longest. Ask, of both countries, which closing costs, condominium charges and rental payouts are in US dollars — and which are not. The Secret Garden price list is quoted in US dollars.

Weather, building code, and how people actually get there

The Dominican Republic sits inside the Atlantic hurricane season, 1 June to 30 November — a calendar, not a forecast. What matters for a building is the code it went up under: the country has a mandatory national building code setting minimum wind-load requirements for new construction. In either country, ask which edition of which code governs the permit and what the insurer will write on the policy. A brochure line about sitting outside a storm belt is a claim to test against an insurance quote.

Access decides who visits and who rents. In 2025, 71.9% of all foreign non-resident arrivals to the Dominican Republic came through Punta Cana International Airport, which serves Los Corales. For a Panamanian location, ask which airport serves it and how many non-stop routes reach it.

Common questions

So which is the better buy, the Dominican Republic or Panama?: This page does not pick one, and the reason is the rule it runs on: half the comparison is not sourced here, so any verdict would rest on the half that is missing. What it gives you instead is one documented column and the questions that fill in the other. Put those questions to a Panamanian attorney and tax specialist, get the answers in writing, and the comparison is yours to make on facts rather than brochures.
Why are there no Panamanian tax rates anywhere on this page?: Because no sourced Panamanian figure was available to write them with, and a number that cannot be sourced does not get published here — not even one that is probably right. The Dominican figures above each carry the law they come from: CONFOTUR is Law 158-01 of 2001, amended by Law 195-13. Ask for the equivalent citations on the Panamanian side and that answer becomes checkable the same way this one is.
Does buying at Secret Garden give me Dominican residency?: Nothing here says it does. The investment route is described as having a US$200,000 minimum and residences start at $233,000, but the sources disagree about whether a real estate purchase counts as a qualifying investment at all, and above what value. The point is not settled, so it is one for a Dominican immigration attorney to answer against your own circumstances. Residency is also separate from tax residency, which is tested at 182 days.
Can a foreigner own the condo outright, in their own name?: In the Dominican Republic, yes — title is registered in the buyer's own name, with no local partner or trust structure required and no residency precondition. For Panama, that is the first thing to establish in writing: whether a foreign buyer may hold the specific parcel directly, whether any coastal or border restriction touches it, and what a local holding company would cost to maintain if one turns out to be needed.