With the continued rise in demand for affordable housing in the country, real property developers are shifting to high gear, putting up new houses and condominiums in Metro Manila and nearby provinces at a faster rate.
The sudden jump in demand for real estate from a veritable slump in the late 1990s and early 2000s is being attributed to a renewed interest from one of the most powerful sectors in the worldwide Filipino community today—migrant workers and “balikbayans.”
Motivated by the improving economic outlook in the Philippines, overseas Filipino workers, especially professionals working and living abroad, are fueling consumption boom back home that is fast spilling over to longer-term investment like property—and the real estate industry is equally fast in seizing the opportunity.
At present, real property developers are shifting their sales pitch from local buyers to their more moneyed relatives abroad, taking into consideration the record $10.7 billion in annual remittances.
Big property developers like Ayala Land and MegaWorld have already reaped the bounty of closing sales with overseas Pinoys. These companies have, on the average, experienced a 92-percent rise in net profit from last year that was primarily driven by strong sales of residential condominium and housing projects, and rental revenues from large shopping malls.
“The exciting prospects in the residential market are being boosted by rising demand from migrant workers, improving affordability, low interest rates, and rising middle-class demand,” a report released by an international bank said.
In the Ilocos Region, which is home to many Filipino migrants in the United States and Canada, a new building boom is also being experienced as many balikbayans are constructing their dream vacation and retirement homes.
Image, taken from daylife.com (original from international news agency Reuters), shows a construction worker walking past a banner advertising condominiums for sale at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig, Metro Manila.
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