On December 5 – 7, 2014, industry leaders gathered at Property Expo Philippines 2014, highlighting industry trends and dispelling talks of a real estate bubble.
According to Mr. Alejandro Manalac, chairman of the National Real Estate Association (NREA), it is advisable to consider properties ready for occupancy or at least nearing completion for personal investments in 2015. This reduces the risk for the buyers and should give them an advantage over the next 3-5 years since there are still not too many units available in the market. Mr. Manalac spoke also about the steps for proper investing and tips on how to find the right property. He said that investing in real estate will continue to be very promising but one must be careful in their choice of properties based on their objectives and holding capacity.
Property Expo Philippines 2014 has clearly proven to be a growing event of interest within the real estate industry featuring panel discussions and seminars with tips on investing in property, on Feng Shui, for selling or buying a property, on becoming a successful real estate investor, on how to market property online, and on how to become a real estate sales champ. Nearly 100 exhibitors and numerous speakers of the market leaders in property development and many other operators of the Philippine Real Estate, Architecture and Design industry were present in this event held at SMX Convention Center Manila.
Investing in secondary cities a winning strategy
Following the path of the chairman of NREA, Mr. Lorens Ziller added that “investing in ready-for-occupancy properties in secondary cities should prove a risk-free investment and winning strategy even among fears that in 2015 we might be seeing a slight slow-down in property sales.” Also Lamudi, the official event partner, explained with Matthieu Janssen, Co-Founder of Lamudi Philippines, how increasing demand through web-search is leaving a mark in today’s real estate panorama and how Lamudi can be strategically helpful for buying/selling/renting properties in the Philippines.
The real estate sector expanded by 8.9% YoY in 2Q 2014
Colliers, one of the world’s leading international real estate services companies presented data from their latest Research & Forecast Report Philippines Q3 2014 report stating their analysis and findings. According to the report the Philippine economy relied on a strong manufacturing sector to grow by 6.4% YoY in 2Q 2014 and the real estate sector expanded by 8.9%. Retail and Commercial real estate was driven also by the demand in commercial buildings and office space for the BPO industry amid growing demand from secondary cities.
In Metro Manila we should apparently expect a lower demand in residential condominium units in 2015 while office space and retail are apparently doing better. Office rents across all grades increased 2 – 3% this quarter while land values in Makati went above peak-levels not seen since ’97. According to Mr. Chris Wells, Residential Property Consultant of Colliers International residential properties are better for keeps nowadays as re-sale might involve taxes and duties difficult to be absorbed by potential re-sale buyers.
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