|
Ayala's Rex Mendoza (left) says now is the time to buy a prime property in Metro Manila |
Close on the heels of Manila
being named as the hottest market worldwide for prime residential properties, executives
of the Philippines’ biggest property developer, Ayala Land Inc., came to Hong
Kong to tell would-be investors why they should head for the country now.
“This is a call for
you to make that investment now,” said Rex Mendoza, a director of Ayala Land,
during a talk on Thursday night at Novotel in Wan Chai.
Mendoza was speaking
to a group of Ayala agents and local residents who had expressed interest in
buying property in the Philippines, in the wake of a report by property
consultancy Knight Frank which showed that prices of prime properties in Manila
gained 21.2 percent in the past year.
This put the
Philippine capital on top of the list of major cities abroad in terms of price
appreciation for the third quarter of the year, outperforming Dubai, where the
average yield was 15.9 percent, and Shanghai, with 10.4 percent.
Hong Kong with its
overheated market fell to the 36th slot, from the 35th
place in the previous quarter.
Mendoza said that
given the Philippines’ strong fundamentals, investors are likely to gain even
more if they put their money in the country. As it is, the Philippines is
already among the world’s fastest growing economies, and is even forecast by
HSBC to become the 16th largest economy by 2050.
Even in the worst of times such as the pandemic, property prices in the Philippines did not plunge, said Mendoza.
“As long as the
Philippines manages to address its problems with infrastructure it should do
even better,” he added.
Right now, he said several
major infrastructure projects being carried out in the Philippines have already
cut down travel times in many places, including the highways linking the
regions of Bicol to Ilocos, and another, between Bataan in the north to Cavite
in the south.
|
Why invest in properties, Mendoza asks with this slide |
There are other
factors that augur well for keeping the economy robust, such as the country’s
booming tourism sector, the ever-reliable remittances from overseas Filipino
workers that should bring in $37.5 billion this year, and a nearly equal yield
of $35 billion from the business product outsourcing (BPO) industry.
In addition, said
Mendoza, the Philippines is in a demographic “sweet spot” because of its young
population, meaning those aged 15 years old and below comprise 30% of the total
number of residents while those aged 65 years old and above make up less than
15%.
In comparison, many other
places in Asia have a rapidly ageing population, leading to lower productivity.
In Japan and Hong Kong for example, the number of elderly residents comprise
about a third of the total population.
To earn the promised
return, however, one needs to invest in Philippine properties that cost around
HK$5 million, such as two new developments unveiled by Ronald Galura for Alveo,
Ayala’s second most expensive brand.
The introductory price
for a three-bedroom condominium measuring between 124 and 126 square feet in
Astela in Circuit Makati and Lattice in Parklinks, Pasig City could set a
person back by $5.5 million and $4.96 million respectively.
But considering that a small
one-bedroom flat in a not-so prestigious address in Hong Kong could already cost
this much, it is likely there would be quite a number of takers here, especially among those keen to make a profit after the havoc wrought by the pandemic.