Among the countries in Southeast Asia, it is the Philippines and Vietnam that emerged as the top performers in real estate for 2015.
It is confirmed by Jones Lang Lasalle Managing Director for Singapore and Southeast Asia Chris Fossick that investors are confident about Vietnam and the Philippines in terms of real estate.
“Business confidence, I suppose, is the opportunities that they see. Those decisions will be based on the ability of the economy to grow in 2016, and the opportunities that it provides,” Fossick said, according to Manila Times.
It is stated by Property Report, an Asian industry magazine that the Philippines is a "solid performer" which is driven by the strong BPO industry.
“The Philippines has continued to be a solid performer and although analysts are predicting a slight slowdown in growth, they see plenty to be positive about, especially in an office market, likely to be the beneficiary of a thriving BPO sector,” said Property Report.
Apart from the BPO industry, what adds to the country's success in real estate is its sound economic management, stable political landscape and its "large, young, and well-educated population," said Sigrid Zialcita, Cushman and Wakefield managing director of Asia Pacific research.
It is also predicted by Zialcita that the BPO sector will continue to grow in the next five years.
“The next five years could still see BPO companies enlarging their footprint across the country to ensure high occupancies and a platform for long-term, moderate rental growth of more than five percent,” she said.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is also named as one of the performing countries in real estate since the construction of its economic hub in Ho Chi Minh City which resulted into a booming property market.
“This retrenchment after the crisis of just a few years ago has been due to various factors, including state purchase of billions of dollars worth of non-performing loans, stronger financial requirements on developers, and government stimulus,” Property Report added.
For the next years, it is expected that Vietnam's property market will continue to rise just like the Philippines.
“The property market in Vietnam has been supported by a stable economy and, due to the growing strength in the US dollar, the Vietnam dong has become one of the strongest currencies in the Asia Pacific region,” said Dung Duong, CBRE Vietnam director for research. “Both decreasing interest rates and a strong currency are expected to attract foreign investors.”
