[ manilastandardtoday.com ]
The Bangko Sentral said over the
weekend it is closely watching the rise in vacancy rates in certain segments of
the real estate sector, but assured there are still no signs of asset price
bubbles in the industry.
“The rise in vacancy rates in certain
market segments in the real estate sector necessitates close monitoring,” said
Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo.
Guinigundo said based on reports by
Colliers International Research, there was a recent increase in capital and
rental values, driven by demand for office space from the business process outsourcing
industry and expatriate demand for luxury three-bedroom units in Makati.
He said the supply of high-rise
residential condominium units continued to surge across Metro Manila, mostly in
the middle-income segment and were broadly located outside the major business
districts.
Major property developers such as
Ayala Land Inc., SM Development Corp., Megaworld Corp., DMCI Holdings, Eton
Properties Philippines Inc., Robinsons Land, Filinvest Development Group, Shang
Properties, Vista Land, Brittany Corp., Century Properties, Moldex Realty Inc.
and Anchor Land are constructing high-rise office and residential buildings
across Metro Manila to take advantage of the increasing purchasing power of the
Filipino middle-class.
Guinigundo said capital and rental
values of office space and residential units in Makati remained below the peak
levels reached in 2008.
He said the number of new supply of
housing units were still not enough to satisfy the estimated housing demand in
the country based on the number of licenses to sell issued by the Housing and
Land Use Regulatory Board and the estimated demand for housing units for the
period 2007-2010.
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