I read an article recently in Global Property Guide (www.globalpropertyguide.com) about the state of Real Estate Philippines compared with the other property markets in Asia. Fortunately, we’re quite attractive to foreign investors, but not exactly the best. Take a look at the table they have given below…
The year 2009 for the Real Estate Philippines industry was much better compared to 2008. In general, most of not all real estate developers saw a recovery on their balance sheets, as the U.S. and the rest of the world slowly gets back up on its feet after taking a big fall in the 2008 global financial crisis. This simply means that people now have more money to spend this year as opposed to last year, so more of us are able to invest in their dream homes.
We must always keep in mind that the Real Estate industry is a CYCLICAL business, meaning that it regularly experiences boom and bust cycles throughout the years and is very much reliant on the income spending power of people at a given time period. You should always observe the market on whether it’s a good time or a bad time to invest in a property. And how will you know? Here are some tips…
After Manny Pacquiao’s historic win in the recent Pacquiao Cotto fight, it seems that our Hero deserves more than just financial rewards and endless praises – a seat to immortality! Still, Pacquiao manages to be humble with all his enormous blessings. He even gave his father a ringside seat, even though he deserted them when Manny was still young to raise another family. Indeed, a true act of heroism for the Pac-man!
As we have all seen and felt recently, both Ondoy and Pepeng have taken lots of lives and property while still leaving disease, garbage and wreckage in their tracks. As we still continue to do our part to rise up from these challenges, we must reflect on the hard and valuable lessons that Ondoy and Pepeng have taught us, so we can be prepared the next time storms like these hit us…
Below are some Philippine Property Lessons which you should take note especially after these two storms. It seems that due to Global Warming and Climate Change, more of these abnormal rains will hits us. So in turn, please do feel free to bookmark and share this page to other people as part of our social responsibility to one another:
Just when we Filipinos thought that nature’s wrath was over, Typhoon Pepeng came back to devastate Northern Luzon, leaving an even worse mark than Ondoy did just weeks ago. Region 1 and Region 2 of the Philippines were the worst hit, including provinces such as Pangasinan, La Union, Pampanga, Tarlac, the Benguet Province, Cagayan Valley, Nueva Ecjia, Nueva Viscaya, and Ilocos.
Due to the devastation brought about by tropical storm Ondoy, Eton Properties has surveyed the elevation of all their current projects above Mean Sea Level (MSL), and found that all their projects are virtually flood-free properties. This means that you as investors can feel safe, knowing that all Eton Projects will not be affected by any major-level floodings.
MSL is defined as the average height of the seawater surface including all tide levels. Thus, an elevation of 20 meters means the property is 20 meters above the average height of the sea, making it very safe against heavy floods.
As reported in a meeting yesterday with Eton President Danilo Ignacio, all Eton Projects did not encounter any major flooding. Please find below the summary list of the Elevation levels of all our current projects, showing that ALL our projects are above the Mean Sea Level:
Indeed, the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy was felt all over the world, especially to us Filipinos. The worst flood and rainfall in 40 years brought about by this unusual storm devastated the lives of over 500,000 Filipinos and ensued property damage of almost P3 billion pesos! Quite a tragedy indeed. For those needing assistance, please visit this link for Emergency Numbers: http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/to-those-affected-by-floods-of-typhoon-ondoy-floods/
Since so many of us had our eyes opened by Ondoy, many are now looking for new homes to start with, and now they realize the importance of having an ELEVATED property. The landscape of the Real Estate Philippines World has now changed due to this monster flood: people will now be more conscious of the property they will be investing in – particularly on whether it’s flood prone or not.
For people who need assistance for Typhoon Ondoy Floods: National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Emergency Numbers: 912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061. Help hotlines: 734-2118, 734-2120. Please repost! Be safe everyone!
PLEASE REPOST! Sen. Dick Gordon (text FULL ADDRESS for the rescue): 09178997898 or 0938444BOYS Sen. Villar rescue text hotline: 09174226800, 09172414864, 09276751981 Rubber boat requests: 838-3203, 838-3354 Rescue dumptrucks: 0917-422-6800, 0927-675-………1981 Bagyong Ondoy: 734-2118, 734-2120 PAGASA: 433-8526 NDCC: 912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061 Red Cross: 0938-444-2697 and 0917-899-7898
NCRPO # 838-3854 – those who need rubber boats and trucks
I sure hope our Government does something about our drainage system. And all of us must also help in our own way through donations and continue praying.. Godspeed to Everyone!
In light of the current “Green Revolution” where businessmen have become more environmentally-conscious, the Philippines is now offering “Green Roofs” and “Green Walls“, or environmentally-friendly roofs and walls to contractors and builders. With this new technology, Philippine Real Estate Developers can now contribute to saving our planet by using these non-harmful materials in constructing their buildings and houses.
We all know that the Philippine BPO sector is one of the key drivers of our growing economy in the recent years. Despite the global economic downturn, there is still evidence of growth in our local BPO industry. However, for this year of 2009, the construction of Business Process Outsouring office spaces have been trimmed down by half, according to a recent report from local stockbroker Citiseconline and Int’l Property Consultant Jones Lang Lasalle Leechiu.
For those of you who have not seen the new San Miguel Beer commercial which features Pinoy boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, Billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, Funny man Michael V. and Matinee idol Derek Ramsay, notice the order of Pacquiao when he orders “Roasted HIGHLAND Legumes” and it turns out to be isang platitong mani (a small plate of peanuts).
There are no official details or any confirmations yet on whether Manny Pacquiao Highlands will truly arise. But the HIGHLAND hint in this recent San Miguel Beer Commercial should serve as a clue. Maybe “the Pacman” himself wanted the word HIGHLAND there to convey his purposes of going through with this project, because I don’t think there are “Highland legumes” being served in restaurants right now. Let’s just wait and see if “Manny Pacquiao Highlands” becomes a dream come true…
Recently, pound-for-pound boxing champ and Philippine national sports hero Manny Pacquiao mentioned that he wants to develop a “Pacquiao Highlands” in one of his big properties in General Santos. In other words, he wants to make a high-end leisure type of village there similar to Tagaytay Highlands, probably offering a cool climate, golf courses, log cabins, state-of-the-art clubhouses with complete facilities, and beautiful parks and gardens. This is very interesting and intruiging indeed…
Of course, with the recent Forbes Magazine reports of Manny Pacquiao’s net worth to be at $40 million US dollars (which translates to about P1.92 BILLION pesos), he certainly has the money to do it. However, the more crucial question here is – where will the real estate development expertise come from?
This expertise certainly won’t come from him obviously. If Pacquiao wants to pursue this, he has to partner with leading developers who have great experience in developing Philippine leisure developments, such as Highlands Prime (makers of Tagaytay Highlands), Landco Pacific (makers of Punta Fuego), and Ayala Land (makers of Anvaya Cove). Perhaps the synergy of his widespread ‘popularity, his partner’s property development skills, and their finances combined may prove to be a superior “knock-out combination” :-p
Who among these developers will take up the challenge? And will “Pacquiao Highlands“ be just another fantasy or a become a definite reality? With his numerous business ventures already in place, Let’s see if Pacquiao proves to be enterprising again by pushing through with this grand Philippine leisure project and give the people of General Santos a truly beautiful sight worth seeing and experiencing…
Given a particular location, many Filipino buyers contemplate on whether to buy land (this includes House & Lots and Townhouses), or a condominium for which to live in or invest in. Allow me to enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of Land vs Condominiums below…
LAND – ADVANTAGES
Your Living Space tends to be BIGGER
You have more privacy for your family
Land will always remain present no matter how many houses you build on it, so it can be passed on to future generations of your family
Land values appreciate over time (since they don’t make new land)
You can have your own garden, garage, and even a swimming pool if it’s big enough and if you’re rich enough
LAND – DISADVANTAGES
More expensive especially if you want to live in highly developed areas – these prime lands are usually high-end private villages with large lots and hefty prices
All the repairs and maintenance of the house will be shouldered by you
Cheaper Lands are usually farther from highly developed areas and offices
CONDOMINIUMS – ADVANTAGES
Locations are usually very near the highly developed areas which house offices and malls, making it very convenient in terms of travel expenses
Available in small sizes, which allow small families and individuals to live in highly-urbanized areas as well
Enjoy the Amenities like the Swimming Pool, the Gym, and Function Rooms
Commands higher Rental Revenues and Income to Investors
Repairs and maintenance of the Condominium will be taken care by the Condominium Administration like the electricity, water piping, maintenance of the amenities, building facade and interiors
CONDOMINIUMS – DISADVANTAGES
Living Spaces tend to be smaller
Monthly dues can be burdensome especially for big-sized condominium units
Building itself depreciates over time, although the land value increases
High density – you have plenty of neighbors sharing the same building and amenities
Know what you’re investing into – Think about these given observations first before choosing between a land or a condominium in your desired Philippine Property location. Depending on your available finances, your preferences and your dislakes, you should be able to discern whether a landed property or a condominium suits you and your family better.
Last week saw a big surge on Philippine Property Stocks. Of course, most of the stocks did rise due to a recent rally of the worldwide stock market, but the ones that outperformed the others here in the Philippines were mostly property stocks.
Why is this so? Analysts have attributed this to the recent cut in interest rates and further cuts in the near future, meaning loan interests will go down and more people will be applying for housing loans to buy houses and condominiums. (Read more about how interest rates affect the property sector on my previous post here at Bangko Sentral hints at Further Interest Cuts).
Ayala Land (Stock Symbol: ALI), Megaworld (MEG), and Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) were among the Property Issues that gained significantly. From the start of the week on May 4 to the end on May 8, Ayala Land went from to 6.2 to 7.4 for a 15% jump, Filinvest from .64 to .74 for a 17% increase, and Megaworld from .71 to .95 for a whopping 35% increase (Megaworld has a stock rights option which accounted for its strength).
However, stock analysts also say that this will be a temporary rally. Let’s just wait and see. Meanwhile, based on my research, I’m sticking to my belief that Philippine Property will continue to be strong in these times
Filipino investors reluctant to put their money in financial instruments are instead investing in Real Estate Philippines, according to Philippine Daily Inquirer article that came out this Monday (click here for the article).
The statement comes from Eton Properties president Danilo Ignacio, who added that confidence in the property sector had bounced back in the first quarter. As proof of this, Eton Properties posted a very encouraging p400 million in sales during this past quarter, which was higher than the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2008.
Mr. Ignacio has attributed the strength of this quarter’s sales to the fact that Philippine Property prices have held up well despite the times, unlike other portfolio instruments which have lost money recently like stocks and derivatives. In fact, he says, Eton was even able to increase prices by “suppressing the supply” of properties, just like what other developers did.
Also, there was an increase in the number of buyers willing to give a higher cash down payment for their property purchases, and so they get higher discounts as an incentive for these higher downpayments. I believe this is so because investors are simply transferring their money from losing investments to more lucrative ones, making sure that their money still works and earns for them.
It looks like that previous articles I posted (click here to read related article) have proven to be true – that Real Estate Philippines is indeed a safe and resilient investment in these trying times. Indeed, even if the Philippine economy would slow down to 1-3 percent, this is still better than other countries since they are experiencing negative growth or recession.
Because of this, Eton Properties has launched new projects slowly but surely. First, they launched West Wing Residences in North Belton Novaliches Q.C. and the One Archers West Tower in DLSU Taft (click here). Now, they are planning to open an 8.6-hectare subdivision project in San Bartolome, Fairview, Quezon City. They also plan to release the 20-hectare third phase of Eton City, a 1000-hectare township development in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
So, for those investors who still don’t know where to put their hard earned money, it’s time to put it into Real Estate Philippines. Inquire and earn now!
This week, Eton Properties has formally announced the launch of 2 new projects, according to the article published last April 13, 2009 on Manila Standard entitled “Eton launches two new Metro projects”. These two are the West Wing Residences in Novaliches and the One Archers Place West Tower at De La Salle University Taft.
West Wing Residences, a 2.2-hectare residential enclave situated in the 13.8-hectare North Belton Communities project of subsidiary Belton Communities Inc. The project, which is located in Novaliches, Quezon City and designed for the middle-income market, offers two- and three-bedroom townhouses starting from P2.8 million. A single detached unit with four-bedrooms is also available costing as much as P4.1 million each.
“The introduction of the West Wing Residences in the North Belton Communities development will further enhance the value of the community since it is one of the few townhouse developments in the area of this size. The project size allows us to develop amenities and lifestyle offerings for our West Wing buyers that smaller pocket developments will be hard-pressed to match”, Ignacio said.
Meanwhile, the One Archers Place West Tower is a 31-storey condominium beside De La Salle University, along Taft Avenue in Manila, and it the second of two towers there.
Ignacio said the East Tower of One Archers Place was one of Eton Properties’ fastest selling projects since buyers immediately saw the convenience and strategic value of the location and the rental investment potential of the project, driven by the year-round demand for residential space in the area by students and professionals.
According to a recent Saturday article by Philippine Inquirer, Filipino developers are bullish on the prospects of the Philippine Economy despite the Times. According to Bansan Choa, national president of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA), Filipinos are not worried about the economy and continue to buy homes simply because they have to answer their basic need of providing shelter for their families.In addition, our financial position is much better now than it was in the 1997 Asian Crisis since the Pag-Ibig fund allocation has increased to p30 billion pesos and the Government-owned Home Guaranty Corporation has protected housing loans of the banks themselves. In fact, every million invested in Philippine real estate translates to p16.6 million worth of economic activity, according to SHDA Chairman Eduardo Alunan. Of course, this is very encouraging news for us Filipinos in the light of the current economic slowdown.
Another reason for their optimism is that they have cement prices locked at lower prices through deals with Cemex and Holcim. Of course, this would give Filipino Developers much more room to work with in terms of keeping costs at bay. As I have already mentioned in my previous blog posts about our resiliency…
… things are not as bad as they seem to be. As I said before, these developers know what they are doing, and of course they have done their homework to know that their businesses will indeed thrive and even prosper now.
Watch out for the 2nd half of the year, I believe this is where things will turn out well for Philippine Real Estate
Philippine Star reports that Moody’s Investors Service has declared its credit outlook for the Philippine banking system is “negative”, but the main property news here is its statement reflecting expectations on our Real Estate Philippines Sector:
”With the economy softening, Lung said the real estate market is not expected to be as robust as in recent years. This slowdown could in turn impact the rates of return the banks are expecting to achieve on joint-venture projects with property firms to redevelop their ROPA.”
Lung here refers to Richard Lung, a VP and senior analyst at Moody’s, which happens to be one the world’s top credit raters of the big companies worldwide. ROPA is the acronym for Real and Other Properties Acquired of banks – the foreclosed properties where their loaners couldn’t pay their housing loans anymore, so the bank seized the property being loaned for to cover the expense of their loan.
Because of the boom in Real Estate Philippines in the past 3 to 5 years, some banks engaged in joint-venture projects to develop their ROPA assets into marketable projects and gain more profits. An example of this is Eton Properties, which used it’s ROPA’s to develop some of its current projects like Eton Residences Greenbelt, One Archers De La Salle, Belton Place, Eton Emerald Lofts, and 68 Roces Townhomes.
But with this statement, Moody’s just clarifies their outlook towards Philippine banks with a concrete example: fearful, cautious, and pessimistic.
Still, all is not lost, they have also mentioned that we are in better shape to weather the storm due to our much stronger reserves compared to the 1997 Asian Crisis.
Only time will tell if the Philippine banks’ decisions to go into Philippine Properties using their own lands will prove to be a success or a failure. I mentioned before that our population growth is our main driver for property demand here. But do the Filipino people still have purchasing power to buy their dream home?
OFW remittances are slowing down, and so are exports and employment in many foreign companies. But, we are not as damaged as the Americans, so most of us are still living comfortably. Many have the money to buy property but are hesitant to invest in these times. The real answer now lies on how we Filipinos react to the current situation. Let us indeed be prudent on how we spend our money, and buy property not based on speculation but based on your real housing needs – providing shelter to your family and loved ones. In this way, we can spend wisely.
It is quite obvious that Philippine Real Estate Developers are not as robust now compared to the previous 3 years due to the global economic slowdown, and therefore need new fresh tactics to survive.The Inquirer Property section started a series of articles that stated “Asia is no longer insulated” from the financial crisis originating from the West (source: http://www.inquirer.net/propertyguide/aroundtown/view.php?db=1&article=20090314-194072). Global Property Guide’s survey of publicly-available house-price time-series for 2008 showed that Philippine Property prices were declining steadily. Even until now, the slope is still going down as we brokers ourselves experience difficulty in selling. Most people we talked to our holding on to their money, or simply have hard times themselves in making it.According to the article, here is what Prince Christian Cruz, a Global Property Guide senior economist, suggests to Philippine Real Estate Developers to cope with the crisis:
• Provide cheaper properties by cutting back on certain amenities such as gyms, function halls and swimming pools. Location is more important to the working class Filipinos.
• Focus on accessibility to public transport as this is crucial to them
• Price properties according to the buying capacity of working and middle-class families. The international standard for affordable housing is three to five times the annual income. In other words, a Filipino worker who earns P10,000 a month can buy a Philippine Property between P360,000 and P600,000.
• Offer rent-to-own schemes for better affordability
In other words, Mr. Cruz is suggesting developers should shift their focus from Overseas Filipinos an enormous local demand from the locally employed middle-class and working-class sector.
The second part of the Inquirer article quotes Alejandro Mañalac, president of the National Real Estate Association, saying that the Economic Slowdown is a blessing in disguise since there will be a smaller glut or oversupply of Philippine condominiums due to developers slowing down in new projects.
Mañalac also said the Ifric 15 issue (see my previous blog entry about it on http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/breaking-news-new-rule-to-hamper-philippine-real-estate-developers/) also made developers rethink their plans to build high-rise buildings (which takes three to five years to complete) in favor of end-user projects which they could finish within a year, and thus recognize their income in their books. “It’s a good thing that the implementation of this new accounting reporting standard was deferred until 2012,” he said, or else all of them would look bad to investors of their stocks.
Mr. Manalac also agrees with Mr. Cruz in terms of adjusting the payment schemes of properties for sale so that end users and the Filipino workers can afford it more. He reiterates that even though most of the Philippine Pre-selling projects are 60% sold, which gives them enough money to complete construction, developers should adjust their investment terms accordingly and not necessarily bring down prices, so that the remaining inventories of pre-sellers can be taken.
If you ask me, this suggestion should also apply to secondary sellers of Philippine property. They should try selling rent-to-own style, where in they can earn from the interest they charge to their tenants as well. In that way, they can help more Filipinos in owning their dream home while doing business also – a Win-Win situation for both buyer and seller
It looks like there’s another “Johnny Come Lately” player in the Real Estate Philippines scenario.
R-II Builders, led by Harbour Centre owners Michael Romero and Reghis Romero, have recently inked a p1-billion joint venture project in Taguig City with Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga, according to Philippine Inquirer (http://www.inquirer.net/propertyguide/aroundtown/view.php?db=1&article=20090130-186399). It says that they plan to build two chubs, namely an 8.8 hectare mixed use development in Ususan called “Skyline City“, and a section of medium rise residential buidlings targeted toward the Taguig working employees.
Again, this new deal just shows the massive potential of Taguig City as the next force to be reckoned with in the Philippine Property landscape, as I have already mentioned in an earlier blogpost on how Taguig will eventually overtake Makati as the next Financial Capital of the Philippines (http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/the-fort-bonifacio-global-city-the-future-financial-capital-of-the-philippines/). Aside from all the major Philippine Property players such as Ayala Land, Greenfield Development, Megaworld, Century Properties, the Rufino Offices and Robinsons Land having projects already in Fort Bonifacio Global City, it seems that new property developers also want to join in the frey of the boom.
However, the REAL question here is will the Romeros develop this land properly? In terms of financial capacity, well we can certainly say that they are capable since they do own Harbour Center and have truckloads of money to invest (some rumors suggest them entering the Philippine Basketball Association very soon). But how about the know-how?
We have seen so many Philippine Real Estate developers fail, go bankrupt, and leave early investors in the dust with lost money in unfinished buildings, especially in the last decade of the Asian Financial Crisis last 1997. We Filipinos should have learned our lesson in choosing the right and dependable developer who will finish their projects on time right? I’m not saying that R-II Builders are bad developers, it’s just that they are unproven yet, and only time will tell if they do prove to be good developers or not. Be wary then! Let’s just hope and pray for the fair citizens of Taguig City that they do indeed turn out to be reliable after all and that the Skyline City proves to be beautiful and very livable…
This worldwide financial catastrophe has affected the economic growth of emerging economies such as the Philippines, where growth slowed down from an outstanding GDP growth of 7.3 percent in 2007 to a lower than expected expansion within the vicinity of 4.5 percent according to economic experts.
Despite this, experts say it’s time to go to back to the basics for 2009 as the remaining liquid investors flock to traditional investment instruments such as direct investments and ownership of real estate. The way to go is revisiting investment opportunities from bricks and mortar businesses or companies which have a physical presence that offers face-to-face customer experiences, ” says Beth Collingz, overseas marketing director of PLC Global, lead marketing partners for the Lancaster Condotels in the Philippines.
Moreover, highly populated countries like the Philippines which, among other sources rely on export revenue; can fall back on its human resources to survive the global financial crisis. The law of
supply and demand tells us that if the Philippines’ export sector is on the downturn because of the recession in the global export market, it can shift to its huge internal market to compensate a shortfall in exports into manufacturing for domestic consumption.
In light of the current global economic crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has dedided to cut Philippine interest rates by 50 basis points (or .5 percent) to 5%, which they said was the same level of interest rates during the start of the US meltdown. In fact, they are signaling another .5% cut next month to further encourage consumer spending among Filipinos and keep our Philippine economy afloat amidst all this chaos.
In my previous blog post (see and read http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/part-2-of-inquirer-article-on-real-estate-philippines/ ), I mentioned there that our Economy grew more than what our government expected at 4.5% GDP, which is obviously good news since it proves we are resilient to the economic downturn. This current move by the BSP is precautionary because they’re “playing it safe” and making sure that there is still enough money to go around with and keep our country moving forward. Perhaps they were taking notice of the many multinationals here cutting jobs or decreasing working hours for Filipinos, so we definitely would experience a slowdown in growth. Still, HSBC analysts confirm that our monetary reserves remain adequate to keep us going (as also mentioned before in http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/hsbc-sees-asia-more-resilient-to-crisis/)
This of course has great implications for Real Estate Philippines investors and buyers. Lower interest rates mean that people will get encouraged to loan more in the bank to buy houses, lots and condominiums. It also implies lesser interest expense in loans for constructing a home or buildings. However, this can also turn out to be a sign that our fall is yet to come since the US had several straight rate cuts in a row, but still their economy fell into recession.
The main difference here is that their exposure to sub-prime mortgages are way too high, and they even had complicated debt instruments which were also exposed to bad debts from American homes which gave them more trouble. Here in the Philippines, such is not the case, because majority of home buyers here are not speculators but mostly end-users who really need a place to stay. As I mentioned before (in blogpost http://www.realestatephilippinesblog.com/philippine-properties-still-good-bargains/ ), population growth is our main demand driver for the Real Estate Philippines sector, so we should remain strong in the times ahead. In fact, Philippine banks here have made it more difficult to loan, since they do not want to emulate the disaster of the US banks, so this should put us in check.
If you ask me, we should definitely consider going to the bank for a housing loan, especially when they cut rates again next month, and maybe even the months after. Provided, of course, that the Philippines indeed proves to be healthy in these hard times.
To be honest, Part 2 of the article was not as good as the first one because half of it just advertised Kawayan Cove and JAO Builders. Well, it did talk about their strategies on how to overcome the slowdown of the world economy, but it was quite redundant considering that the first part of the article already did that with other developers. I was hoping they would come up with more figures or substantial proof that Philippine Real Estate is indeed in good shape.
Well, let me do that for you by sharing what I’ve come across lately… Bloomberg has reported that the Philippine Economy grew 4.5% last quarter of 2008, which is higher than what the Philippine Government had anticipated. Of course, this means good news to all of us Filipinos because it shows that we are indeed resilient to the crisis. Since OFW’s still continue to remit money to their relatives here, we will still be OK. Of course, we can’t help but cut our spending since even some multinationals such as Intel, Yazaki-Torres and Toshiba are cutting out employees to save out labor costs. But, as long as our Business Processing Outsource Industry is still growing, Pinoys can still find new jobs, so this should keep our economy afloat.
Other than that, let’s just continue working hard for our loved ones and praying… Godspeed to all!
This is VERY interesting news in the lights of these times: Banks actually LENDED MORE to Philippine Property Developers this quarter! Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reports that “exposures of universal and commercial banks to the real estate sector — mostly in the form of loans and investments — reached P223.9 billion in September, 5.1% higher compared to the previous quarter’s P213.1 billion.”
A Friday article from Philippine Inquirer reports that worldwide property consultant CB Richard Ellis has stated that the Real Estate Philippines sector is still a safe haven for property investments. Due to the fallout of financial instruments and diversified portfolio investments in the U.S., people will now learn their lesson and go back to traditional asset investments such as real estate.
Makati City is the current financial capital of the Philippines, but it may be soon overtaken by the Fort Bonifacio Global City, which is majority owned by none other that the Makati developer themselves: Ayala Land. Hence, many developments are sprouting up there like mushrooms, because of their trust in the Ayala name brand. They certainly did it before in Makati, which was a barren airstrip during the period. With their foremost expertise, they have transformed it into probably the most modern and attractive urban development in the Philippines.
A new global accounting reporting system called IFRIC 15 (International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee) has threatened to hamper Philippine Real Estate developers by using new accounting rules to realize income from property sales. Under IFRIC 15, which the Philippines agreed to comply with, Filipino developersmust only recognize revenues from pre-selling activities once the project is completed.
Since pre-selling is very common in the world of Real Estate Philippines, this would force all Philippine builders to report losses instead of profits starting this coming January of 2009! And what’s even more damaging is that IFRIC 15 should have a retroactive application even to the previous financial statements of the past year!
It’s good to hear thatAyala Land, the number one developer in Philippine Real Estate, is having a positive outlook towards the Real Estate Philippines sector. This is just what we need: the foremost Philippine Property expert saying that we’re still in good shape! It seems that they have done their homework and seen the following signs to support their bullish perspective..
Based on this article in the Philippine News website (http://philippinenews.com/article.php?id=3157) that says Philippine Real Estate still have good value because of the single-digit interest rates and the prevailing demand for Philippine Properties; — all this despite the recent global economic downturn. This came from an interview BPI Family Bank’s Vice President of the retail mortgage division, Ms. Jocelyn Sta. Ana.
Perhaps some would like to argue against her claims, but in my humble opinion, she is right for the simple two-word truth prevailing here in the Philippines – POPULATION GROWTH.
Here’s another encouraging follow-up note for the resiliency of Real Estate Philippines amidst the global crisis:
Hongkong Shanghai Bank (HSBC) sees developing countries in Asia in a much better position to withstand the current global financial turmoil than during the 1997-98 regional currency crisis. While emerging Asia would slow down alongside the global downturn triggered by the US credit crunch, the region–the world’s fastest growing in the last few years–would likely remain resilient, HSBC group chief operations officer Michael Geoghegan said in an international teleconference late Monday.
In light of the current global slowdown brought about by the U.S. financial crisis, which originated from sub-prime property loans by the careless U.S. banks, we now reflect on the lessons that we Filipinos learned from our past. Builders have already started to review their plans amid fears that the huge Overseas Filipino Worker contingent that last year sent home more than 14 billion dollars, could shrink as jobs are lost in the recession-hit West. Two major players in Philippine Real Estate have already made some trimming moves to adapt to the current headwinds.