DESPITE fears of an imminent property bubble threatening the continued growth of the local property sector, rising consumer confidence and a market buoyed by higher purchasing power continue to paint an encouraging future for Philippine real estate.
A recent survey spearheaded by the New Perspective Media (NPM), the group behind the Philippines, revealed that at least 78 percent of overseas Filipinos based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remain keen on buying properties back home—a huge jump from the mere 43 percent that the NPM found to have showed interest in venturing to property investments during the same period last year. This year the majority of the overseas Filipinos polled by NPM expressed preference to invest in properties up to P2 million, while those who opted to buy the more upscale properties costing P5 million and above also increased from a mere 7 percent in 2014 to 13 percent this year.
“The Philippines’s strong economic performance during recent years continues to push its property market upward and international industry experts agree that now is the best time to invest in real estate,” NPM Managing Director Karen Remo was quoted, as published by the Khaleej Times, one of the leading English broadsheets in the UAE. “Investing in Philippine property today is ideal for Filipino and international investors as prices are likely to soar substantially in the coming years. Our survey confirms a substantial increase in investment appetite and this is in response to positive forecasts of good investment returns in the Philippines, which is one of Asia’s steadiest economies.”
It is estimated that 60 percent of remittances from overseas Filipinos directly and indirectly contribute to the growth of the real-estate sector. For the past few years, the surge in overseas remittances has figured prominently as a key pillar in the Philippines’s phenomenal economic growth, accounting for at least 10 percent of the country’s GDP. This makes the Philippines one of the largest recipients of remittances globally, ranking fourth next to China, India and Mexico. These kinds of developments continue to shape the promising future of the local real-estate sector, leading to the introduction of more commercial and residential projects not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces.
Pursuing more property investments
As more property developments go on the market, stakeholders from the local property sector are shifting the way they interact with and address the needs of possible buyers by using various media outlets, such as television and the Internet, to reach and connect with various markets.
Philippine Realty TV (PRTV), the longest-running real-estate TV show and a game changer in the local real-estate scene, has anticipated this development ahead of time—the reason it has formed its own brokerage arm, Realty Emporium, as a medium to reach out both to property buyers and companies aiming to reach out to their respective markets.
In partnership with Deca Homes, PRTV is birthing a new concept in real-estate reality TV by introducing the search for “Superstar Sellers.” An upcoming reality competition featuring individual property sellers taking on a series of selling challenges, Superstar Sellers comes as a way for PRTV to diversify into a multifaceted media platform not only by providing property developers the opportunities to advertise and reach out to the market, but also to become a platform to sell their respective portfolios of products.
At Superstar Sellers, real-estate sales professional will be pitted against each other in a race to sell the most number of residential developments from Deca Homes’s portfolio within the given contest period. They will be presented with a series of selling challenges—from converting hot leads to actual buyers, to using the most appropriate digital-selling strategies to finally land that sale—that they will need to hurdle to gain points and boost their chances of dominating the competition.
“If a real-estate sales professional knows how to take advantage of technology to be able to reach their desired market and sell, they are already one step ahead of the rest of the field,” said the creator and executive producer of PRTV, John Aguilar.
Among the properties to be featured in the competition are units from Deca Clark Resorts and Residences in Pampanga, Urban Deca Tower in Mandaluyong, Urban Deca Homes Campville in Muntinlupa, and Bella Vista in Cavite. Those who will be able to top the competition by bringing in the most sales in their area from December 2015 until February 2016 will be crowned, with attractive bonuses and incentives, including an optional car loan, a chance to fly for an overseas trip courtesy of Deca Homes, and a subsidy for a property from Deca Homes. “We’re very excited with our collaboration with Deca Homes for the search for Superstar Sellers,” Aguilar shared.
“We’re making Realty Emporium the champion of this partnership to help feature promising locations and exciting new developments to help prospective buyers find the right homes that suit their needs.”
