Face-to-face meetings and paperwork had been synonymous with homeownership until COVID-19 made human contact a risky behavior. Like retail, banking, food and other industries, real estate was forced to adapt to this tectonic shift. AboitizLand, the real estate arm of the Aboitiz Group of Companies, was among the first developers to recalibrate its systems. Embracing…
COVID-19 is directly impacting infrastructure services around the world. Demand for existing infrastructure has fallen sharply. Construction of new infrastructure has slowed, if not stalled, everywhere. The COVID-19 crisis is also unique in the suddenness and the severity of its impact on the economy and infrastructure usage. While some infrastructure sectors like health and ICT…
A new increase in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines and across the world once again distresses health-care systems. As daily cases rise to dangerous levels, largely because of the fiercer Delta strain of the coronavirus, health workers are bracing to relive their experiences during past surges—countless hours on duty as their hospitals reach full capacity…
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…
CEBU CITY—Not even the COVID-19 pandemic can stop this new “city” from rising at the South Road Properties, a 300-hectare reclaimed area in the southern part of Cebu City. The construction of the South Coast City is in full swing—while strictly complying with health protocols—to meet its target completion by the second quarter of 2022.…
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) has expressed its support for the United Nations Environment Program campaign to phase out single-use plastics in the tourism sector. It has partnered with the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI) under the Transforming Tourism Value Chains (TVC) Project and the Department of Tourism through…
A year after debuting on the local stock exchange, real estate investment trust (REIT) first-mover AREIT Inc. announced that it was on track to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of the year as it committed to attain net zero greenhouse gas emission by end-2022. From an initial public offering (IPO) price of P27 per…
The protracted COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted Filipinos’ preferences and priorities—perhaps even permanently—as they struggled to cope with the forced lockdowns and the realization that the COVID-19 disease is likely here to stay and cause sporadic outbreaks. This helps explain the marked increase in the demand since March of last year for real estate projects…
The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the resilience, flexibility and adaptability of the Philippines’ property sector, putting it in a good position to emerge stronger from the health crisis. Although the “landscape” might, or would, change, panelists at a recent Inquirer Project Rebound webinar all expressed optimism that the industry would recover and, to use US President…
In these most uncertain times, how can companies grappling with an omnipresent pandemic and rapidly shifting market preferences survive and eve thrive beyond this global health crisis? Admittedly, there’s no single set of solutions that can address this as everything remains fluid and continues to change in so many unpredictable ways. However, there are certain…