San Juan Bautista

About San Juan Bautista:

San Juan Bautista takes up the south-eastern side of Chitré, between the historic centre and the Río La Villa, which marks the line with Los Santos province. La Villa de Los Santos is only a few kilometres to the south, on the far bank. The Vía de Circunvalación Interna runs through the corregimiento, and Avenida Roberto Ramírez de Diego and Calle Independencia carry most of the traffic toward the clinics. From almost any street here, the centre of Chitré is a few minutes by car.

The corregimiento was created by Law 58 of 29 July 1998, formed from part of what had been the cabecera. It counted 10,645 residents in 2000 and 12,798 in 2023, steady growth on land with little room left to spread. Health care sets the rhythm of the weekday: the CSS Policlínica Roberto Ramírez de Diego, the Centro de Salud de Chitré and the Herrera headquarters of the Ministry of Health, in Villa Guadalupe, all sit inside its limits. Children go to the Escuela Hipólito Pérez Tello on Calle Humberto Collado, and the shops and banks of the Paseo Enrique Geenzier are close by.

The ground is flat and low, under 20 metres above sea level, and nearly all of it is built up. Streets form a grid of block-and-concrete houses, broken by school yards, clinic car parks and a few parcels that have never been developed. Blas Tello along the ring road, Villa Guadalupe, Barriada San Juan Bautista, Rayo de Luna and Jalisco follow one another as named neighbourhoods rather than a separate town. On 24 June the corregimiento joins the rest of the city for the feast of San Juan Bautista, when the saint’s image is carried from Puerto El Agallito to the cathedral.

Buyers are mostly families from Herrera and the rest of Azuero who want a bigger house without leaving the city, and people who work in Chitré’s clinics, offices and shops. Having a polyclinic, a school and the centre within reach, without crossing town, is a large part of the appeal. Because the corregimiento is small and full, new stock comes from older houses changing hands or from infill lots, not from large new subdivisions. That keeps the market centred on resale houses, with rentals covering those who are not ready to buy.

Houses in San Juan Bautista:

The typical house is single-storey, block and concrete, with three to five bedrooms, a carport or covered garage and a yard at the back. In Residencial Blas Tello some of the larger homes have 360 m² of construction on 420 m² lots, with a pool and room for several cars. On the more central streets you will find older houses, sometimes sold in pairs, and casas unifamiliares dobles that let a family live in one half and rent out the other. Those older houses sit well below the finished residencial homes in price, so budget for roof, plumbing and wiring. Walk the street at different hours: a house on Avenida Roberto Ramírez de Diego lives with clinic traffic that a house on an inner street of Villa Guadalupe does not.

Land and Lots in San Juan Bautista:

Open land is scarce, which is exactly why lots here draw attention. Residential lots still turn up behind Urbanización Blas Tello, sized for a family house with a yard. There are larger pieces too: a central tract of more than four hectares on main roads is for sale in one block, better suited to a subdivision or a commercial project than to a single home. Frontage on the ring road and on the streets near the Paseo Enrique Geenzier is priced as commercial land in Chitré. Before you sign, find out whether the lot was ever municipal land, because the Chitré municipality has adjudicated municipal lots to their occupants in this corregimiento.

Rentals in San Juan Bautista:

What gets rented here is mostly whole houses by the month, many with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, furnished or unfurnished. Tenants are often professionals posted to Chitré in health care, public offices, banking and teaching, and families who have not bought yet. The Universidad de Panamá’s Azuero regional centre is on Avenida Roberto Ramírez de Diego, so students and lecturers look here as well. This is a long-term rental market, not a holiday one. Put in writing who pays for water, power and rubbish collection, and test the water pressure before you sign.

FAQ:

• Is San Juan Bautista a separate town or part of Chitré?

  It is part of the city. Since 1998 it has been one of the five corregimientos of the Chitré district, and its streets run into the centre without a break. The Catedral San Juan Bautista and Parque Unión, which share the name, are in the neighbouring Chitré cabecera, a few minutes away.

• Some lots here were municipal land. How do I make sure the title is clean?

  The municipality has handed municipal lots to the families occupying them, here and in other corregimientos, so not every parcel started out as private property. Ask the seller for the finca number and confirm in the Registro Público that the lot is registered in their name, free of liens, with measurements that match the plano. If all they hold is a municipal adjudication, have the titling finished before any money changes hands.

• What should I ask about water before buying a house?

  Water pressure is an open issue in parts of Chitré, and improving it is one of the corregimiento’s stated priorities. Run the taps at the busiest time of day, ask whether the house has a reserve tank and pump, and ask how long supply cuts lasted in the last dry season.

• How close is hospital care?

  Very close. The CSS polyclinic and the Chitré health centre are inside the corregimiento, the Hospital Cecilio Castillero is on Avenida Carmelo Spadafora in the cabecera, and the Hospital Gustavo Nelson Collado is in Llano Bonito.

• How long is the drive from Panama City?

  About four hours for 255 km. Take the Pan-American Highway to Divisa, then the Carretera Nacional for the last 38 km into Chitré; once in the city, San Juan Bautista is reached from the ring road.