Colliers International released a report on the state of the Philippine Residential Market for the third quarter of 2018, picked up by our Japan office. Here's an insight from both reports by Colliers and PropertyAccess K.K. Japan. 

More units available
Both reports note a significant increase in the delivery of complete units at 4,900, which, if added with data from the previous quarter is projected to close at 9,600 units. However, the reports note that a majority of these units are office or commercial in nature, with Bonifacio Global City (BGC) accounting for 65% of the office units completed. In the residential sector, BGC trumps the Makati Central Business District with 27% against 23%, followed by the Manila Bay area and Ortigas with a close 16% and 15% respectively with Manila Bay driven primarily by the tourism and a growing gaming industry.

Unit vacancy decreases
With the traffic situation worsening, employees working in the prime business districts of BGC and Makati CBD are starting to rent nearer the workplace. With demand increasing, the availability of units barely keeps up with the growing demand. In fact, this also contributed to the flat-lining of rental demands as remaining units available are either rare or too expensive for an average employee to afford. In an increasing trend nowadays is for employees to rent units for multiple occupancy, mostly with co-workers or former colleagues working in the same area.

Condo prices increase
As unit availability decreases, investors are looking for more property investments specifically for the rental sector. However, there is a growing demand for units for use as primary residential spaces as the middle class sector is projected to increase further towards 2022. Pre-sales keep the condominium sector up as inflation and increasing interest rates failed to curb the demand for new property developments. In fact increased interest rates are still within tolerable limits for the market and as the Philippine economy recovers, property investments are also projected to increase further.*

Read article in Japanese here: https://ja.propertyaccess.co/jp/articles/philippines-residential-market-review-2018-3q

*PropertyAccess Philippines lists a wide selection of Makati, BGC, Ortigas, and Manila Bay properties from our network of reliable brokers and agents. Our listings include properties for rent and for sale, with pre-sell and ready for occupancy (RFO) properties also available.