MANILA -- The Philippines’ residential real estate market is expected to sustain its growth on the back of robust demand both from offshore and local buyers, as well as with the help of technology.
In a media briefing by Lamudi Thursday, Ortigas and Co. Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Mirasol said the country’s residential market continues to be strong with the increasing interest overseas, mostly from Pogo market, or those who hold licenses for Philippine offshore gaming operations.
Majority of the Pogo industry buyers are reportedly Chinese nationals.
“The market continues to be strong. It seems to be growing quite big. From what I’ve heard from the developers, everyone seems to be registering growth in terms of who are buying, particularly residential real estate. We are seeing a lot of people from overseas coming in,” Mirasol said.
“A lot of the overseas buyers that we are seeing right now are users, and many of these are coming from the Pogo industry. They’re looking for places here to live. That’s sort of growth opportunity for many developers,” he added.
He mentioned that the declining vacancy rate of residential spaces in Manila can be attributed to the strong take up of residential units from the Pogo market.
“In residential developments, the Pogo market probably represents one of the newest and most significant changes in the real estate industry,” Mirasol said.
This was also echoed by KMC Solutions Managing Director Michael McCullough, adding that the Pogo industry has disrupted the residential market in the past years.
McCullough said that most of these buyers also favored the Bay Area and Makati central business districts.
Aside from the Pogo market, the robust residential market is also backed by new technology, Primehomes Vice President for Sales and Marketing Greg Ignacio said.
Ignacio noted that buyers are now seeking for residential units through digital platforms. This trend also makes it easier for developers to offer their products directly to their market.
“With the growing technology and with the greater perspective of the new buyers, they have their access to technology. And having this access the growth of the kind of buyers is unlimited,” he said.
“Digital really gives a lot of mileage,” Ignacio stressed. “One advertisement can give you a thousand or more talking points to more people or buyers,” added Ignacio. (PNA)
