2015 - A Strong Year for Philippine Real Estate

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The biggest real estate players in the Philippines recently released their respective income reports for the year 2015, and as expected, the overall financial trend is predominantly good for almost all real estate companies. Online real estate portal Lamudi Philippines has listed down and analyzed the performance indicator of the country’s top real estate developers for 2015.

The highest income for 2015 goes to Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) at Php17.6 billion, 19 percent higher from the real estate giant’s 2014 figure of Php14.8 billion. The jump in profit was attributed to ALI’s diverse offering of residential and commercial products, especially its master-planned estates all over the country. ALI also amplified its presence in key growth centers and introduced three new integrated mixed-use estates in 2015. These are the 11-hectare Cloverleaf project in Quezon City, the nine-hectare Capitol Central in Bacolod, and the 700-hectare Vermosa in Cavite. Also highly anticipated is its Arca South project in Taguig and Vertis North in Quezon City. Early this year, the Ayala group has gained control of land-rich Ortigas & Co., along with the Sy (of the SM group) and Ortigas families.

Also coming strong is property giant Megaworld Corp., whose net income soared 10.58 percent from 2014’s Php9.40 billion. The company breached the Php10 billion mark in net core income for 2015, at Php10.40 billion. True to its title as the builder of live-work-play developments in the Philippines, Megaworld launched five integrated townships in 2015, marking a total of 20 integrated township developments across the country. Adding to the company’s success is the exponential growth of their rental business, especially BPO offices, for the last five years. As early as now, Megaworld Chief Finance Officer Francis Canuto shares that they are confident that they will reach the Php11 billion target by end of this year.

Microsoft’s ICT Manifesto Empowers Philippine IT Organizations to Campaign for the Advancement of Society Through Technology

Wazup Pilipinas!

Three of the country’s leading ICT organizations are standing behind Microsoft’s Technology Manifesto months after its launch in the Philippines last November 2015.

United with Microsoft’s vison for a technology-led Philippines are the IT &Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), CIO Forum Foundation, and Internet Society – Philippine Chapter.

Microsoft, in partnership with Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy and Asian Institute of Management, together with stakeholder from various private and public sectors, developed ‘ICT for Shared Prosperity: A Technology Manifesto for the Philippines, 2016 and Beyond’. It identifies national challenges and issues that need to be addressed, and key technology pillars that can help the country ultimately leapfrog technological development:

• Preparing people for the future through 21^st century education
• Building a more equitable society by ensuring connectivity for all
• Leveraging ICT to enhance competitiveness in a mobile-first, cloud-first world
• Moving towards a 21st century government that uses technology to become more trusted, more efficient, and more responsive.
• Providing a safe and secure online environment for citizens, especially children, who represent the country’s future

Lamudi Data Shows Where Buyers Can Find Foreclosed Properties

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Global real estate portal Lamudi Philippines studied its data on foreclosed houses

In case homebuyers are wondering where they can get affordable houses, cities in Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal right on the fringes of Metro Manila offer them the most viable options, as these areas are teeming with foreclosed properties, according to data from global real estate website Lamudi Philippines.

In its latest data analysis, Lamudi found that the cities of San Jose Del Monte (Bulacan), Dasmariñas (Cavite), San Mateo (Rizal), Bacoor (Cavite), and Santa Rosa (Laguna) have the most number of listed foreclosed houses in the website. These are followed by Antipolo (Rizal), Imus (Cavite), Caloocan (Metro Manila), San Pedro (Laguna), and Quezon City (Metro Manila). Caloocan and Quezon City are the lone Metro Manila cities that made it the top 10. Together, these cities comprise 51 percent of all foreclosed houses listed in the Lamudi website.

In terms of prices, San Jose Del Monte offers the most affordable foreclosed houses among the top 10 cities. Foreclosed houses in this Bulacan city average Php336,000. Quezon City, meanwhile, offer much pricier foreclosed houses, averaging Php5.33 million.