Real-estate industry sustains growth in Q1
By Roderick Abad -July 3, 2019
AS the first half of 2019 already has concluded, studies have shown the bullish prospects on the Philippine real-estate industry for the rest of the year.
This is apparent on the upbeat performance from January to March as shown in the latest report of Lamudi, in partnership with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Philippines, dubbed “The Digital Property Seeker Series 2019: 1st Quarter Metro Manila Market Overview.”
According to JLL Philippines, the real-estate market in Metro Manila is expected to keep on flourishing in Q1 2019 amid the headwinds that the country’s economy experienced in 2018.
“The Philippine economy started to pick up in terms of consumer demand with the cooling of the March 2019 inflation rate. Likewise, the business environment has been steady, supported by the continuous entry and expansion from investors. This is evident in the office sector with supply increases and continuous rental growth in [the first quarter of 2019],” it noted in the report.
The property sector’s segments—office space, residential and retail—in the metropolis continue to encounter heightened demand, alongside those in budding real-estate hot spots such as Davao and Pampanga.
During the first three months of the year, strong need for office spaces came from offshore and outsourcing businesses, per the JLL Philippines. They partook 51 percent of the total rental volumes during the period.
Online gaming firms, also known as Philippine Online Gaming Operators or Pogos, accounted for a sizable amount of 27 percent that were leased in Q1. Flexible workspaces also spurred the demand for offices, most of which are multinationals that have built their first hubs in central business districts across the metropolis but have since then expanded to other CBDs.