Philippine property developers bet on market recovery

MANILA, Philippines — The local chapter of the Paris-based International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) is optimistic the current slump in the property market would be reversed in line with the full recovery of the economic from the recession.

FIABCI-Philippines president Reghis Romero II said the country’s continued infrastructure buildup, low interest rate regime, and ramped up COVID vaccination campaign would contribute to the market’s quick rebound.

Citing a survey by the FIABCI World Council of Experts covering 226 cities across the globe, Romero said the Philippines was not as badly hurt as its Southeast Asian neighbors such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia that suffered price declines in 2019 to 2021.

“In fact, Philippine house prices remained in positive territory, rising by 1.8 percent in 2019-2020 and 5.6 percent in 2020-2021 as shown by the FIABCI survey. Thus, in Metro Manila, price recovery for agricultural land and detached houses is optimistically projected in as early as September, low-rise residences in November, and residential subdivisions in December, all in 2021,” he added.

Expected to recover next year are prices of housing and apartment rentals in January; owner-occupied apartments or condominium units, urban lands and industrial properties in February; shopping outlets and resorts in May; office spaces in June; and hotels and retirement facilities in August.

Founded in 1951 in Paris, France, FIABCI has around 2,300 regular and a million associate members in 70 countries, including the Philippines, all experiencing market challenges on account of COVID-related measures such as telecommuting or work-from-home arrangements, last-mile distribution or door-to-door deliveries, and travel restrictions.

“Such measures have contributed to a substantial decrease in office footprint and consumer traffic, resulting in reduced productivity that affects trade and commerce and the national economies altogether on a global scale,” Romero explained.

Consequently, FIABCI-Philippines is pushing for future-ready property developments and relevant technological breakthroughs in construction, urban planning and architectural design concepts.

“Those innovations may include COVID-preventive features such as offices with air filtration devices, doorless public toilets and washrooms, touchless elevators and light switches, compartmentalized or segmentized factory production lines, acrylic- or glass-partitioned office desks, and intuitive floor layout for social distancing in both corporate and public premises, among others,” said FIABCI chairman and former president Nestor Mangio.