We can all agree on one thing: 2016 was a crazy year. From the sudden exit of Britain from the European Union, to Donald Trump’s win as the president of the United States, to President Rodrigo Duterte’s new administration, to the death of David Bowie, you can say that 2016 is far from being uneventful. With that being said, it cannot be helped if the events that happened in the past year truly affected the scheme of things in the real estate arena. There are tons of things that happened in the local real estate that are worth looking back on. Here are some of them.
Finance
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) just reported that there has been an increase in the total real estate loans in 2016. The total amount loans increased for an impressive 19.2 percent at the end of the third quarter. BSP also saw an increase in interest for properties located outside the National Capital Region.
Meanwhile the country experienced a harsh peso weakening during the last months of the year. One dollar is now almost equivalent to 50 pesos. But real estate experts are foreseeing that this can be beneficial in the industry especially for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). The higher the exchange the higher chances that the demand for real estate will be higher for this audience.
Government
The 2016 elections had been one of the highlights of the year. The new administration brings new promises in the field. The Duterte administration is currently working on decentralizing the focus from NCR and put it in satellite regions. Another promise is to put more industries in various areas and to improve the transportation and infrastructure in the country.
Earlier this year President Duterte hired Vice President Leni Robredo to become the chairman of Housing and Urban Developing Coordinating Council (HUDCC) . Robredo started her streak as the chairman by addressing the housing back log and creating more housing programs for victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Secretary Jun Evasco replaced Robredo just last month after the former tendered her resignation.
Projects and developments
New trends rose in terms of demand for developments this year. We have seen a huge demand for mixed used developments, also known as properties that serve as both residential and commercial. There’s also a huge shift for workspace needs. Offices are now moving away from the cubicle box design and turning to more fun and stylish designs.
Developers continue to pursue bringing more residential properties into regions like Central Luzon and CALABARZON. These regions are known for having wide untouched land and being in vicinity to the capitol.
Transportation
Traffic has never been worse this year. 2016 is the year where it took up to 4 hours to get away from EDSA, the year when MRT had countless of breakdowns, the year when carmageddon finally happened. The hellish transportation system brought some major changes in real estate too. Because of the traffic, more and more people are opting for rental spaces in top hubs in Metro Manila. Bed spaces, condotels and modern dormitories have become a trend this year to adapt to the huge demand for a quick abode in the city.
2016 might be crazy but no one can deny that it’s a major over turn for the real estate industry. We can’t help but get excited on what 2017 has to bring us.
