Santa Rita

About Santa Rita:

Santa Rita sits inland from Río Hato and east of Antón town, about 150 metres above sea level. Two roads climb to it from the Interamericana, each a little over 14 km long: one through Buen Retiro, the other through El Chirú, which you pick up by turning off the highway opposite the Santa Mónica development. From the village a third road runs 6.8 km on to Cabuya, the next corregimiento, and from there towards El Valle de Antón. Panama City is around two hours away by car.

The corregimiento was created on 23 October 1963 and takes its name from its patron, Santa Rita de Casia, whose feast on 22 May is the big date of the local year. Daily life is modest and practical. Many residents work in construction or in the hotels and tourism businesses on the coast below, while families grow food crops, keep fruit trees, chickens and a few cattle. Santa Rita has a health centre, primary schools in Santa Rita and Santa Rita Arriba, a secondary school offering a tourism bachillerato and a scattering of small shops; for banks and larger shopping people go down to Antón, Río Hato or Penonomé.

The country is rolling and green, with secondary forest on the slopes and strips of gallery forest along the Río Chico, Quebrada Grande and La Negrita. Those streams feed the local swimming spots: El Limón, reached by a rough track off the Cabuya road opposite the Las Peñitas kiosk, fills up in the dry season and at Carnival, and El Puente, Piedra Amarilla and La Cascada draw weekend visitors too. Road cyclists use the asphalt loops through El Chirú and Santa Rita for long training rides. The climate is tropical dry, and that matters more than any view. Village water comes from a gravity aqueduct fed by intakes at Quebrada La Negrita, El Naranjo and Loma Larga, and supply to some sectors is irregular, so a property with its own well or a stream that runs through the dry months is worth noticeably more.

Local homes are mostly concrete block with zinc roofs, strung along the main road and through hamlets that carry family names, such as Los González, Los Alonso and Los Sánchez. Buyers from outside come with a few clear aims. Some want a hobby farm or a cattle finca within easy reach of the highway; others want a quiet country house behind the beach resorts; and a few owners already let their country houses to weekend visitors who want the Río Hato coast without staying on it. Large estates sometimes come up for lease as well as for sale.

Farms in Santa Rita:

Fincas are the backbone of the market. At the smaller end there are holdings like a 9-hectare farm, mostly flat, with a small house already built, and an 11-hectare flat parcel crossed by a stream, pitched for cattle, crops or timber. A rolling 11-hectare farm on the El Chirú side, 16 km from the highway, sold on the strength of water that keeps flowing in the dry season and a two-bedroom caretaker’s house at the gate. At the top end, a 46-hectare estate with a house, cattle corrals, two deep wells, mains power, a reservoir pond and frontage on the Río Chico is offered either for sale or for lease. Asking prices per square metre on these larger farms for sale in Santa Rita run at roughly half what buyers pay for a small country-house parcel.

Land and Lots in Santa Rita:

Below farm size, buyers are mostly looking for somewhere to build a country house. Parcels of around a hectare and a half on paved access come up near the village, sold as productive land with room for a home and a garden. Near Quebrada Ancha there are titled lots of close to 3,000 m² planted with fruit and timber trees. Lots of 1,000 m² are also sold along the Santa Rita road itself, about ten minutes from the Panamericana, a good fit for anyone who wants the power line and the road right at the gate. Before committing to any land in Santa Rita, walk the parcel in March, when you can see what water it really has.

Houses in Santa Rita:

Finished houses are few and most sit on their own land. Typical of the offer is a country house on a small finca with two bedrooms and a wide terrace opening onto the garden, or a farm with a modest house that a new owner can live in while building something larger. Towards the highway end of the Buen Retiro road, a 4.6-hectare estate with a 900 m² furnished house, pool, gym, private well and palm plantation shows the other extreme. Either way, a country house in Santa Rita nearly always comes with land around it, and the land is a large part of what you pay for.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Santa Rita from the Interamericana?

  There are two roads, both a little over 14 km. One leaves the highway through Buen Retiro, the other turns off opposite the Santa Mónica development and runs through El Chirú. Both are asphalt, and from the village a further 6.8 km of road continues to Cabuya. Drive both before you buy, because some farms are much closer to one entrance than the other.

• Is there enough water for a house or a farm?

  That is the first question to settle. The village runs on a gravity aqueduct and some sectors get water only some of the time, especially late in the dry season. Ask whether the property has its own well, how deep it is and what it yields, and whether any stream on the land still runs in March and April. A seller who can show you water in the dry season is offering something genuinely scarce here.

• What should I check on the title of a finca here?

  Confirm that the land is a titled finca registered in the Registro Público and not held only as derechos posesorios, and that the survey plan matches the fences you see. If the seller inherited the land, make sure the succession has been completed and registered and that every heir has signed. On parcels beside the Río Chico or a quebrada, remember that the wooded strip along the bank is protected and cannot be cleared for pasture or building.

• How far is Santa Rita from the beach and from services?

  The nearer farms are about 18 minutes from Playa Blanca and around 15 minutes from the village of Río Hato. Antón and Río Hato, both on the Interamericana, cover daily shopping, and Penonomé is the provincial capital for larger errands. Panama City is roughly two hours away.

• Can a foreigner buy land in Santa Rita?

  Yes. Foreigners can own titled property in Panama on the same terms as Panamanians, and the restrictions that apply near the national borders and on some islands do not affect Antón district.