Demand for commercial space, particularly from business process
outsourcing (BPO), will remain the driving force behind real estate as
an industry and supported by a broader market of residential buyers,
property consultant CBRE Philippines said Wednesday.
The situation is evolving at a time when the Philippines is fast
becoming a global lifestyle hub and Metro Manila is challenging other
gaming cities like Macau and Las Vegas.
“Fiscal
dilemma in the US will push more business process outsourcing to the
Philippines,” said Rick Santos, CBRE Philippines chairman and chief
executive officer. Santos also cited the strong pre-leasing commitments,
with the BPO sector accounting for 80 to 90 percent of total office
space and taking up at least 4.5 million square feet annually.
“The Philippines will remain as one of the most cost-effective office destinations in Asia,” he added.
Joey Radovan, CBRE vice chairman and global corporate services head,
noted that BPO in the past decade has been the source of demand for
office spaces in the country and “will remain so for the next five
years. Developers will continue to build spaces for them.”
In the next three years, Radovan said a chunk of the available space will be in Ortigas area, Fort Bonifacio, and Quezon City.
And then the supply would largely come from the “next wave cities” of
Baguio, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Sta. Rosa,
Lipa, Cavite, and Malolos. “These are places where BPO firms are looking
at putting up office spaces,” Radovan said.
Empowering the residential market
Empowering the market for residential developments is the higher
disposable earnings of the mid-income segment, with the demand for homes
thriving in a low interest rate regime, CBRE Philippines noted.
“The Philippines is expecting democratization in the housing sector –
from a notion of renters to owners – based on low interest rates,”
Santos said.
“An empowered consumer-base economy will continue to fuel retail developments in the country,” he added.
Victor Ascuncion, CBRE Philippines executive director, sees the
strongest segment of the property sector as the “condominium units
priced above P100,000 per square meter... with 76 percent of the total
supply in this price range have already been sold.”
There is a “60 percent take-up on projects that are launched,” he added that
An emerging trend in the residential and office sector, known as
lifestyle housing and lifestyle BPO destinations, integrates office,
lifestyle, and retail spaces, according to CBRE Philippines.
“These will be an alternative for BPO site selection and office developments outside of Metro Manila,” Santos said.
The gaming challenge
“We think the Philippines will really challenge Macau and Las Vegas in gaming revenues in five years time,” Santos noted.
Entertainment City Manila in Pasay City will notch $10 billion in
revenues by 2016 from $1.3 billion in 2011, according to CBRE
Philippines.
“Leisure destination properties
will be acknowledged for their tourism marketability and investment
potential,” said Liz Silvestre, CBRE Philippines associate director.
“The country will experience strong global luxury trend of foreign
tourists brought about by the islands’ recognition and more aggressive
government campaign,” she added. — VS, GMA News
0 comments:
Post a Comment