Manila’s Bay Area dubbed hottest residential investment destination
Metro Manila’s Bay Area now records the city’s fastest average monthly take-up by local and foreign buyers in the past 12 months, according to real estate service provider, Santos Knight Frank.
Part of the large track of land reclaimed from Manila Bay, the Bay Area is the site of the Mall of Asia Complex, home of one of the world’s largest shopping malls; Aseana City, an office and IT-BPO hub and Entertainment City, which houses three of the four multibillion-peso integrated resorts.
Companies such as Double Dragon, Ayala Land, SM, Federal Land and Robinsons Land are carrying out more projects within and along the district’s fringes.
The Bay Area has seen a sharp increase in residential project launches over the last five years as more occupiers have arrived and gaming and tourism facilities have opened.
After registering an average monthly sale of 51 units in October last year, take-up in the Bay Area increased to 70 units during the second quarter of 2017 and outperformed central business districts such as Makati (16 units per month), Bonifacio Global City (14 units), Ortigas (13 units) and Alabang (10 units).
The Bay Area is dominated by middle and high-end projects that range from R117,000 to R175,000 per square meter, with about 91% of the current stock already absorbed.
“Aside from local and overseas Filipino worker (OFW) investors, buyers from China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East are driving residential sales in the Bay Area,” says Jan Custodio, Senior Director of Research and Consultancy
Also, “Residential investors see strong demand coming in from office occupiers, tourists and the gaming market.”
“As Manila’s fastest growing district, the Bay Area contains the right ingredients to accommodate the city’s continued expansion,” added Rick Santos, Chairman and CEO
The Bay Area’s closeness to the airport and new infrastructure makes it an ideal emerging hub for the entertainment, office, retail and residential market sectors, he concluded.