Housing best investment tool of a lifetime

Is it still wise for the average Filipino family to invest in their own home? For the newly inducted officers of the country’s largest housing development association, real estate is still one of those enduring investments that Filipinos can always rely on.

“Owning your own home, for instance, has long been considered a fundamental component of achieving one’s dream. Moreover, stable economic growth, low-interest rates, increasing home investment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), continuous growth of foreign investment, expansion of the off-shoring and outsourcing industries, and the influx of expatriate workers continue to drive the steady demand in the local property market and have combined to shape the property boom that is changing the skyline not only of Metro Manila but of the provincial cities as well,” said Rodel Racadio of Camella Homes, who now is the national president of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA).

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Armenia Ballesteros of SM Development Corp., who now is SHDA chair, noted that with many young professionals pouring into the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, new development located closer to work (convenience and less time spent on commuting) are becoming more attractive.

Industry experts believe that the sector, which contributes to 6 percent of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth, is expected to hit its target of $25.5 billion (P121.5 billion) and 1.4 million people employed by year-end.

Even with the expected flat growth in remittances or money sent home by OFWs amid the prolonged low oil prices that already are impacting on the economies in the Middle East (resulting in salary cuts as well as layoffs of thousand of OFWs in the region), the new SHDA officers are confident that remittances of other professionals, especially those in the medical care and services-related firms, will help cushion the impact as they will not be too affected by the low oil prices and the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In 2015, cash remittances from OFWs reached $25.8 billion, 4.6 percent higher than the $24.6 billion recorded in 2014.

Ballesteros said: “The OFWs, those in the BPO industry and tourism, shall remain the country’s key growth drivers. They will continue increasing affordability of homes through generating better-paying jobs, and finally, prudential measures that are being practiced by the financial sector providing ample check and balance to ensure market stability.”

Aside from Racadio and Ballesteros, other SHDA officials who took their oaths were Fely Ramos of Fino Property Ventures, 1st VP; Rene Ledesma Jr. of Ledesco Development Corp., 2nd VP; John Paul Dy of Prominence Properties Inc., corporate secretary; Jonathan Lu of PA Alvarez Property and Development Corp., national treasurer; Jeffrey Ng of Cathay Land Inc., auditor; Eduardo Alunan of Alunan Realty Inc., PRO; and board of governors composed of former SHDA chair Ricky Celis of Amaia Land Corp.; Eleuterio Coronel of Filinvest Development Corp.; Noel Gonzales of CHMI Land Inc.; George Siy of Convergence Realty Development Corp.; Renato Tan of RJ Lhinet Development Corp. and Wilfredo Tan of Hausland Development Corp.