The Philippine chapter of the Paris-based International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) remains upbeat on the property sector’s recovery from the market slump beginning in the fourth quarter this year despite the surge of the delta variant.
Reghis Romero II, former chair and now president of FIABCI-Philippines, cited the country’s continued infrastructure buildup, low interest rate regime and the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign as the contributing factors to the market recovery.
Citing a survey by the FIABCI World Council of Experts covering 226 cities across the globe, Romero said the Philippines was not as badly hurt as its Southeast Asian neighbors such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia that suffered price declines in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
“In fact, the Philippines’ house prices remained in positive territory in both periods, rising by 1.8 percent in 2019-2020 and 5.6 percent in 2020-2021 as shown by the FIABCI survey. Thus, in Metro Manila, price recovery for agricultural land and detached houses is optimistically projected in as early as September, low-rise residences in November and residential subdivisions in December, all in 2021,” Romero added.
Expected to recover next year are the prices of housing and apartment rentals in January; owner-occupied apartments or condominium units, urban lands and industrial properties in February and shopping outlets and resorts in May.
