It’s been almost a year since the quarantines began in the country and most of us are already getting used to the new normal way of things.
As we all work to settle in with the changes, various opportunities to arise in the real estate sector. This was stressed by property listing website Lamudi Philippines.
“The property sector is well on its way to recovery as economic factors and investor attitude improve,”Lamudi Philippines said.
“Considering the market behavior on Lamudi in 2020, there seems to be a promising outlook that the general demand for residential and commercial real estate in the country will bounce back this year,” it added.
Residential interest to grow
Despite residential demand dropping in the first half of 2020 due to the uncertainties brought by the pandemic, Lamudi said this rose back up in the second half of the year as investors and homebuyers with more purchasing power started to regain their confidence in the market.
“As a result, the demand for all residential real estate types increased steadily from 1H2020 to 2H2020,” Lamudi said.
Houses and land recorded the highest growth in pageviews, registering 33.03 percent and 30.24 percent, respectively.
In addition, condos posted an uptick of 5.37 percent, while foreclosed properties saw a 16.86 percent hike from the first half to the second half of 2020.
“Foreclosed properties received more attention from property seekers in recent years with the more affordable offerings in some of the key regions in the metro,” Lamudi said.
It emphasized that the upward trend in the end of 2020 lends a positive outlook for the residential market this year.
“Lamudi’s projections show that houses, condos, and foreclosed properties may see a spike in pageviews in the first half of 2021 from the first half of 2020,” Lamudi said.
Projections from Lamudi show that the number of people looking at houses and condos are seen to climb by 3.01 percent, and 17.62 percent, respectively.
Similarly, pageviews for foreclosed properties are estimated to surge 31.53 percent in the first half compared to the same period last year.
“The second half of the year will likewise be optimistic for houses and condos, comparing the figures to those projected in 1H2021. The number of house seekers will grow by 8.01 percent, and condo seekers by 0.92 percent,” Lamudi said.
Commercial demand to rise
In an earlier report, Lamudi identified Metro Manila cities hosting central business districts (CBDs) as the most popular locations for 2020. Among these are Quezon City, Makati, Pasig, and Taguig.
“As the residential sector bounced back in these cities, the commercial sector followed suit in the second half of 2020,”Lamudi said.
Data from Lamudi shows that the number of pageviews for commercial properties in Quezon City grew 24.6 percent in the second half of 2020.
For this year, Lamudi projects pageviews to increase by pageviews could rise by 3.29 percent from the first half to the second half of 2021.
Similarly, pageviews for commercial properties in Makati and Taguig are also expected to increase this year with a projected 8.53 percent and 15.87 percent, respectively.
Lamudi also projects a 4.49 percent increase in pageviews for commercial properties in Pasig City and a 17.91 percent rise in pageviews for Muntinlupa City.
Technopark property demand seen to grow
Provincial cities near the metro have been some of the most popular real estate investment locations in 2020, due in part to the pandemic boosting the warehousing and logistics sector and businesses moving to regions with easy access to the capital region.
As property seekers and end-users move to the fringes of the metro, Lamudi said the demand for commercial properties increases in these areas to target the growing market.
It added that locators may also be considering a move to the provinces spurred by the government’s projects to decongest the capital region and the completion of infrastructure projects making fringe cities gateways to previously inaccessible areas.
“The growing demand for commercial properties in provincial cities may also be due to the lower price per square meter compared to central business districts in the metro,” Lamudi said.
The property listing site said Biñan and Santa Rosa in Laguna, which are home to the Laguna Technopark are expected to see significant hike in pageviews this year.
Lamudi said pageviews for commercial properties in Santa Rosa is expected to rise by 6.48 percent in the first half of this year.
Similarly, Biñan is projected to have a 13.32 percent growth in pageviews between the first and second half of 2021.
In addition, Lamudi also expects a 40.17 percent hike in the number of pageviews for commercial properties in Silang, Cavite during the period.
“Commercial demand for these locations may see further boost in 2021 as companies decide to relocate to less densely-populated areas, and new businesses turn to warehousing opportunities in the fringes of Metro Manila to gain easy entry and mobility servicing their clients in CALABARZON and the rest of the Southern part of Luzon,” Lamudi said.
Property listings to remain stable
Lamudi said 2020 ended with a relatively stable number of listings on the Lamudi platform.
In terms of top-listed real estate types, apartments recorded the highest growth in 2020, registering a 33.76-percent hike from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. This was followed by land with a 26.29 percent increase and condos with a 21.86 percent gain.
“The number of listings on the Lamudi platform is expected to remain stable in the year ahead, Lamudi said.
“Several real estate developers have introduced new projects in the market. Brokers and agents are gradually becoming used to the norm of using online platforms to advertise properties under the new normal,” it added,
Despite the promising outlook for the country’s real estate sector this year, Lamudi emphasized that there’s still a lot to be done this year.
“…there’s a lot of work to do, especially in making property seekers confident and comfortable in engaging in transactions that largely involve digital platforms,” Lamudi said.
“The new year will be the time the new normal will settle,” it added.
