Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine Star)
- June 3, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Decentralization
in the Philippine real estate market is in full swing which bodes well to the
incoming administration’s goal of promoting inclusive growth, real estate
advisory firm CBRE Philippines said.
With Metro Manila long been considered
the country’s center of development, CBRE Philippines said other areas such as
Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan De Oro
and Zamboanga are gaining investments for their economic potential.
The firm said real estate development is
beginning to grow at a faster rate in these secondary sites as returns on
investment have been becoming quite favorable.
“Developments in these secondary sites
were initially limited to the local developers. Over the past several years,
the national developers started to enter these sites on a growing scale. This
can be seen as a positive situation as this encourages local developers to step
up in terms of putting up better quality buildings and structures. This in
general will promote growth in terms of employment and other opportunities as
well as providing better facilities for the local populace,” CBRE chairman and
founder Rick Santos said.
As Metro Manila continuous to become
saturated, Santos said the need for developing new areas has become imperative
to accommodate the growing demand in the market.
“Opportunities can be found in locations
such as Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan and Pampanga, which are all accessible via land
transport. Crucial to the further development of these locations is to shorten
the travel time between Metro Manila and these areas,” he said.
The real estate advisory company noted
that constantly improving infrastructure as well as completion of pending
public-private partnership projects would further enhance the growth of these
alternative locations.
CBRE Philippines said these improvements
would likewise keep the momentum of the country’s real estate market going in
the coming years.
“Coupled with the improved physical
accessibility brought about by newly constructed and rehabilitated roads,
bridges and transportation facilities have opened the opportunity for some
areas outside of Metro Manila to evolve into new business districts,” it said.
“Overall, the combined growth of BPOs
and infrastructure development coupled with prudential macroeconomic policies
will further boost the country’s competitiveness,” CBRE Philippines added.
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