‘Political noise’ on mute for developers

Skyline of the financial district of Makati. Developers are continuing to focus on making the property sector an attractive investment despite the ‘political noise’. —File photo by Ted. Aljibe | Agence France-Presse)

MANILA, Philippines – Developers are opting to put on mute the “political noise” currently playing in the country and are instead focusing on making the property sector an attractive investment hub amid a challenging environment, according to Colliers Philippines.

Joey Bondoc, research director at Colliers, told reporters during a media briefing on Tuesday that their clients had not yet expressed concern over the current political turmoil.

“Developers here are wise enough to tune out all this political noise that they are hearing right now and just focus on what needs to be done to make the Philippines a very good and ideal investment destination,” Bondoc said.

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“Investors, buyers and businessmen are able to isolate this political noise from the usual daily business grind,” he added.

This comes amid the trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court.

Analysts also said earlier that local politics would not have a significant impact on both equities and the debt market, as investors were instead watching out for the global trade war.

RFO promos

Colliers also reported on Tuesday that developers were offering “attractive” promos for their ready-for-occupancy units amid oversupply woes in Metro Manila.

These promos include 15- to 30-percent discounts on total contract prices for spot cash payments, and little to no down payment before moving in.

Bondoc also noted that property firms were offering extensions of up to 48 months for down payment terms.

“For some developers, you don’t even have to shell out an initial payment for you to be able to move into a ready-for-occupancy unit,” he said.

Colliers data show that as of December, there were 26,300 unoccupied units in the National Capital Region.

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Of this number, 35 percent are in the lower middle-income segment, or those that cost P3.6 million to P6.99 million per unit, 25 percent in the upper middle-income segment (P7 million to P11.99 million), and 23 percent in the affordable segment (P2.5 million to P3.59 million).