Demand for residential properties is likely to stay as long as interest rates remain in the low single digits, a real estate consultancy firm said. Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu (JLLL) said the supply of residential units is “just right” for the current level of housing demand as the low interest rates make condominiums more accessible to buyers.
“If interest rates go up, it will depend on how much. If it increases too much, it will be difficult to have good installment packages,” Nando Camus, JLLL chairman, told The Manila Times.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it is likely to keep key interest rates at their lowest level for the rest of the year, barring any price shock or any event that would raise inflation expectations.
Most local banks forecast that the central bank will start tweaking its key rates next year as the economy starts to pick up.
Camus said the demand for residential developments is being driven by theyoung professionals or the “yuppies”, who want to live near their place of work instead of going home to the cities’ outskirts or suburbs.
Property developers have launched specific projects targeting the urban professionals. SM Development Corp. (SMDC) has ventured into the low-cost housing segment with a new brand called My Place, which tapped a younger market “that yearns for independent living.”
“Condo living is becoming more popular because the trend now is to live closer to where you work,” Camus said.
The JLLL executive said this is the reason behind the success of the SM Group’s housing arm, the largest residential developer in Metro Manila in the first semester in terms of number of units sold and value of sales.
“SMDC has caught many developers by surprise. They have bought a lot of good properties along the MRT stations and SM malls. They’re well located,” Camus said.
The company was also able to create synergies with its malls as it developed affordable and fully-furnished residential units, complete with appliances that home buyers can easily purchase from SM outlets, the JLLL executive said. –KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE REPORTER, Manila Times
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
