The Philippines Q1 market insight displays a favorable time to invest for developers.
The Philippines nearly reached their 2015 annual goal of maintaining a gross domestic product (GDP) of 6% by starting out strong at 6.3% and only falling a little short to 5.8%, as reported by the Philippinas Statistics Authority (PSA).
At any rate, the investment grade of “BBB” has been maintained, and the Philippines is doing better than most countries in this cluster according to Fitch Ratings. Not to mention, unemployment has dramatically dropped to 5.6%, the lowest it has been since 2008. The same goes for the Philippines’ inflation rate, Bangko Sentral ng Philipinas (BSP) recorded it to be at an all-time low at 0.9%.
It is not to be dismissed that the registered tourism rate in 2015 reached 5.36 million visitors, which is an increase of 11.67% from 2014. Pinnacle, a real estate consulting service, noted that the boost in tourism contributed to USD 5 billion, which is also an increase of 3.3% from the previous year.
With the large increase of tourism, the hotel and gaming market has been a steady dollar earner for investors and developers. Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) has been tasked to give incentives to investors and developers in the tourism industry to accelerate developments.
Pinnacle observed that the market for office space continues to expand as more than one million square metres of space is planned to open in major business districts, such as Manila, over the next two years. Premium Grade A buildings have a weighted average of PHP 1,280 per square metre per month while Grade A, B and C buildings range between PHP 865 to PHP 675 per square metre each month.
The Philippines residential market boasts countless property options for buyers at this time. With relatively easy financing and competitive rents, buyers really win big in the current market, especially those who purchase for investment.
* “Market Insight Q1 2016” supplied by Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services, Inc.
