Blog, Real Estate News and Insights

Real estate industry update

by Jose B. Pilar, Real Estate Broker

Based on our observation and experience, the realty business is somewhat slow in the last few years, particularly in general brokerage. Our earlier specialization was industrial and factory lots, but this market has declined since the 1997 Asian crisis, and has not yet recovered to date. With regard to other types of property, many banks disposed of their foreclosed properties at low prices, and for easy terms, and so this has somewhat dampened the pricing and competitiveness of private property sellers who naturally want the best pricing for their properties. There is of course the problem with our local politics which the leaders have messed up, and this is aggravating the poor market condition.

On the developer side, however, there seems to be a bright horizon because most of the developers are positioning themselves in special market niches, such as condominiums and out-of-town residential and leisure enclaves, not only for the local market but especially for overseas buyers. Developers no longer buy their rawland needs. They are mainly negotiating joint ventures with the land owners.

As part of the marketig effort of developers, there is a lot of advertising and promotions seeking to sell to the overseas market. It seems that the increasing dollar remittances to the Philippines have encouraged the pre-selling of condominiums to foreign-based buyers.

Another bright spot on the horizon is the upsurge in the tourism industry, where new hotels have started building, particularly in Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, and Palawan. There are also positive developments in planning new airports. Realtors and brokers are hoping that tourism will help improve market conditions for real estate in the near future.