This is how foreign tourists aptly describe construction activities in and around the Philippine metropolis today, and rightly so.
Although the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) property index at the moment does not reflect such optimism—down by 23.16 percent to 3,252.66 (as of March 14, 2017)—bullish bias in the real-estate industry remains in the long term.
Stocks rise and fall depending on so many factors, but what is keeping the industry’s resilience is the strong demand for a piece of property both vertically and horizontally.
But if you’re in the stock market, confidence both in the near and long term stays. Its index—which has been moving sideways for the past month or so—is composed of 15 property stocks. Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) with 36.19 percent weight on it is considered the most significant. Next is SM Prime Holdings Inc. with 17.58 percent. Analysts believe that, technically, while the index could be making a downturn triangle chart pattern, a breakout looms, considering that all gauges are pointing up.
In an interview I did for Forbes Magazine sometime back, SM President Harley T. Sy said the country’s real-estate industry has “so much to hope for.” SM’s capability to deliver in spite of domestic and global challenges is due to what he calls “the positive results regularly turned in by our core businesses. We intend to maintain this healthy level of performance; thus, we are committed to challenge ourselves further and to continue seeking opportunities for added growth and expansion.”
Consider this: Last November the 11-month foreign direct investment of $6.973 billion already exceeded the $6.7 billion updated 2016 goal set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, even as the government tries to reach a $7-billion FDI this year. Among the equity capital inflows recorded last year were those contributed by the arts, entertainment and recreation; construction activities; financial and insurance; manufacturing; and, most notably, real estate.
Industry players have used these indicators as their bases for predicting that the country’s real-estate industry will continue to fly this year. They see the ever-changing real- estate tastes of Filipinos with most prospective buyers experiencing increases in their purchasing powers.
Developers tailor their project ideas to fit the needs and wants of their customers by offering them world-class advances in real estate.
If every Filipino who toil overseas saves for the future home of their respective families, an upsurge in demand for middle-income housing is forecasted, particularly in the expanses of Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Western and Central Visayas, where 48 percent of the country’s overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reside.
We’re not even talking here of the 10 percent of the assessed 10.2 million Filipinos now employed and residing overseas. Another positive indicator is the sustained rise in the quantity of possible patrons, with 2 million Filipinos departing for greener pastures overseas yearly.
A strong demand for condominiums planned as forays into the rental market will continue due to the fact that business absorption is still centered in Metro Manila. Traffic is a major factor, too, inspiring workers to rent units within their places of work, preferably in the country’s central business districts.
The government is also currently engaged in teaching OFWs how and where to invest their hard-earned cash. They mostly favor assets, which passively generate for them decent dividends. These are in real estate, particularly condominiums and condotels.
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