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News Top Stories Philippine property market to remain buoyant—Century Properties chairman
News Top Stories Philippine property market to remain buoyant—Century Properties chairman
| Philippine property market to remain buoyant—Century Properties chairman |
| Tuesday, 26 August 2008 07:33 | ||||||
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Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio, chairman of Century Properties Group, told business news channels CNBC and Bloomberg in a recent interview that such factors distinguish the Philippines from other markets that are now reeling from the US-led global economic slowdown. “The profile of the Philippine property market is such that there is a very big gap in terms of demand as compared to the annual output of the property developers,” he explained to CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia anchor Martin Soong, referring to current figures that the country’s housing backlog is at 3.8 million units. This demand is further magnified by the “phenomenon” of the growing middle class, the Philippine property sector’s principal market, which includes 11 million OFWs who are expected to remit $16 billion this year and historically devote 30 percent of their income to housing, Amb. Antonio told Bloomberg NOW’s Catherine Yang. There can therefore be an effective demand for P 240 Billion buying power for real estate or housing. A much stronger Philippine banking system is also one of the reasons why we will never experience the US subprime crisis. “[Philippine] banks are very strict in terms of lending, and this is good because it disciplines the market. There is very little speculative buying now,” he added. Ambassador Antonio also pointed out that there is a growing consciousness in the market to invest in tangible assets, like property, to hedge against inflation. “Because bank rates are very low, people perceive that it’s better to buy real estate or other forms of fixed assets that go up in value due to inflation than put their money in the bank… And Filipinos, as most Asians, regard property as a primary investment.” He cited other strong areas of growth in the property market, including office space rentals, tourism and infrastructure. Century Properties, the largest privately-owned full-service real estate firm in the country, expects to hit record sales in 2008 with a 30 percent growth from the previous year. Among its latest projects are the 3.4-hectare Century City in Makati which will include The Gramercy Residences and The Knightsbridge Residences, and Canyon Ranch at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite. It has just turned over to its clients South of Market, a twin tower residential development in Fort Bonifacio. It is slated to also turnover Soho Central, a joint venture project with Greenfield Development Corp., a mixed use commercial and residential project on Shaw Boulevard and EDSA, in 2009. Century Properties Inc. is also developing a residential tower on Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue called Grand Soho Makati together with the United Coconut Planters Bank. Visit www.century-properties.com.
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