|
A
LEADING real-estate developers group “watered down”
speculations that the construction and real-estate
sector is heading for a slump as they would be forced to
increase their selling prices as a result of the current
upward trend in the prices of steel and other major
construction materials.
In an
interview with the BusinessMirror, Andy Mañalac,
president of the National Real Estate Association Inc.
(Philippines), said the anticipated 20-percent average
increases in prices of property projects, such as
residential and office condominiums, will have a minimal
effect on the industry in general, more so on the
current market base.
Mañalac
allayed fears of some sectors, particularly the
construction sector, that the real-estate boom is
heading for a bust.
 “The
market is here to stay. So let’s not rock the boat,” he
said, even as he advised home buyers and investors to
become more discerning in their choices of investments
and acquisition plans.
Mañalac,
also the executive sales director of Lucio Tan’s
property firm Eton Properties Inc., compared today’s
situation to the past two cycles the real-estate
industry has experienced.
“The
[real-estate] industry has seen and experienced the
worst times during the late ’80s [first cycle] and the
devastating effects of the Asian financial crisis near
the end of the ’90s era.”
The
whole world is our market
“Philippine real-estate market base has expanded a
hundredfold. It has now become global.” With the current
quality of real-estate developments—particularly the
“township concept”—sales volume from among Filipinos
abroad, including foreign investors from Asia, Europe
and the Middle East have expressed a keen interest in
acquiring residential and leisure-oriented developments
in the country.
“The
whole world is our market,” declared Mañalac. “Not to
mention the cheap prices of these properties.”
He cited
the current marketing trends today as compared to the
situation in the late ’80s, when homebuyers and
real-estate investors were merely comprised of wealthy
Chinese businessmen.
“During
the last two cycles, the real property sector’s
inability to fly could be attributed to many factors,
such as interest rates that reached as high as 22
percent, and exchange rates [from P26 to a US dollar to
as high as P50 for every dollar],” he said.
On the
marketing aspect, Mañalac said today’s technology,
practically unheard of 15 to 20 years ago, has largely
contributed to the sales and marketing efforts of
developers.
Buyers
and sellers can now transact via the Internet as model
units and configuration and amenities of condominium
units can be viewed online and buyers don’t have to see
the actual units.
Road
shows abroad, particularly in Europe, the Middle East
and the US, have become a regular fare for sales people
of developers.
“Para
ngang nagpapapunta lang sa Quiapo ang mga
developers [Developers look like they’re just sending
people to Quiapo],” he said
Mañalac
also cited brisk sales, particularly in London and other
European countries where there is a large concentration
of Filipino migrant workers plainly because of the
appreciating value of the European currency.
He said
the country’s situation in the past decades has brought
the property sector to rock-bottom level.
Besides
high interest rates, Mañalac cited the failed coup
attempts, power outages, lack of financing facilities,
among others, that made investing in real estate the
last thing in the minds of overseas Filipinos,
particularly Fiipino-American retirees and Europe-based
Filipinos.
In
short, Mañalac stressed, the market is very much alive.
And its capacity to pay has more than doubled. More so,
condominium living has become a very acceptable trend
compared with the situation before.
The
types of development today, particularly residential
condominium units, remain pretty much affordable since
most buyers can now settle for a 36-sq-m to 55-sq-m
dwelling unit. Fifteen years ago, most condos were built
at an average of 80-sq-m to 150-sq-m per unit, he
explained.
“On top
of all these, [the] cost of real estate in the
Philippines still remains as one of the cheapest on a
per square meter basis. Not to mention its world-class
quality and perfect location,” Mañalac stressed.
Philippine property developers have somehow mastered the
art of combining affordability and best location in
their respective projects.
He,
likewise, assured prospective real-estate investors and
buyers that “now is the best time to buy and own
real-estate properties.”
In the
final analysis, Mañalac swears that the current price
increases in construction materials that would surely
lead to higher price tags on almost all projects in the
pipeline will create only a small dent on the continuing
upward trend in property investments and ownership.
“As soon
as prices of steel and other construction materials have
stabilized, developers are the ones who will first
benefit, especially those who opted to continue with
what they have already ventured in or started with,” he
concluded. |
