Philippine Outsourcing Continues to Drive Real Estate Growth

Real estate consultancy group CBRE Philippines said the country’s real estate industry is expected to keep growing due to steady office, residential, and commercial demand. Commitments from business process outsourcing (BPO) companies are driving the growth in the office sector, while the residential sector attracts investments from the expatriate community and Filipinos working abroad.

Filipinos make up 60 percent of condominium sales activities, while 40 percent belongs to foreign buyers that are particularly interested in the luxury, high-end, affordable and mid-market residential investments. 

The country also remains attractive for investors because of efforts by the local government to improve infrastructure and political stability. CBRE cited low interest rates and mild inflation as real estate growth drivers. In the third quarter of 2014, Philippine real estate activities increased to 8.9 percent, faster than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

The upcoming ASEAN economic integration is further expected to lure more businesses to the country, especially companies who want to extend their market reach. CBRE Philippines chairman and president Rick Santos said that the continuous transformation of cities into business landscapes will further solidify the position of the country as an investment destination in the years to come.

“As long as this performance continues, and even improves, we can only see nothing but great developments in real estate especially with the ASEAN integration coming up,” Santos added.