Buy to Let Property in the Philippines: The Best Investment during Recessionary Times

Nov. 1, 2008 - PRLog -- If you are looking for a second source of income or an avenue to invest your savings in the most efficient way possible, then rental properties just might be the best investment for you. Explore the potential possibilities of buy to let investments, and this just might be the money-making break you are looking for. Rents which we thought we would get in two years we're getting now said Beth Collingz, a managing director in Metro Manila of the Condotel Marketing arm of PLC Global Pinoy, the International marketing partner of Pacific Concord Properties’ Lancaster Brand of Condo Hotels in the Philippines.

Collingz expects rental income to rise 15 percent in the coming 12 months after gains of as much as 30 percent since January 2008, when Pacific Concord Properties Inc are set to launch Condo Hotel operations of their flagship Lancaster Suites located in the Ortigas business district in Metro Manila.

There are large amounts of capital now chasing increasingly limited investment-grade real-estate opportunities in Asia said Collingz. "We are currently in the closing stages of packaging the investment of some $20M in private-equity real estate funds for new Lancaster Brand Apart-Hotel or Condotel buy-to-let developments in Metro Manila and Cebu, on the strength of expected rental returns which will continue to grow at a rapid pace."

With funds raised for commercial property deals in Asia having doubled in each of the past five years, Collingz see the market value of Condotel investments in the Philippines reaching new heights in 2008/9 as more developments come on line and investors shift from high priced real estate to low entry property markets in South East Asia.

Rising demand for homes, hotels, short and medium term rental accommodation, offices and shopping malls in the Philippines, home to a population of almost 80 million and with a significant number of the more than 10 million returning overseas Filipino ‘Baby Boomers’, is fueling rents.

Residential rents in Metro Manila rose 32 percent in the three months to March 2008, their highest quarter-on-quarter increase in more than a decade, as more and more IT companies set up shop in the Philippines. Companies like Texas Instruments are well underway with their $1B investment in expanded operations in the Philippines. High-end rents rose some 23 percent from a year earlier, said Collingz.

Collingz projects that Rents in the region are set to effectively jump up by at least 14.7 percent per annum over the next five years, compared with negative returns in the recession hit United States and European property markets. Yields from 8 percent to as high as 14-16 percent ROI on rental income property contrast with the 3 percent to 4 percent that private equity firms get in the United States and Europe.

"People are in general looking to shift fund flows relatively towards Asia," Collingz said. "It already has had a profound impact in markets where there's a lot of this money chasing the same assets." In Singapore, the region's second- biggest market after Japan, investments by private real estate funds accounted for seven of the 19 office blocks, worth 6.7 billion dollars, sold since September 2005. REITs bought six. A Goldman Sachs fund paid 690 million dollars for two buildings last November that house the headquarters of DBS Group Holdings. In Hong Kong, property funds of Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Bank paid a total of 7.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $1.02 billion, for four office blocks from March to May, according a recent article published by CB Richard Ellis.

As the Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong markets become saturated, the Philippines will be the next real estate market to attract substantial overseas investments. Lower prices and retirees’ spending money are also directing foreign attention to residential condominium hotels in the Philippines, which in turn is driving up more construction.

“A lot of this interest is being driven by the relatively cheap market prices here compared to Europe – especially UK housing prices – and the easy payment options available for condominium hotel developments” Collingz said. “The buyers gain rental incomes that on today’s purchase prices give a projected ROI of some 8 percent to a high of some 14-16 percent depending on the mode of payment for the unit” said Collingz.

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PLC International Marketing Networks, with its internet based Global Agency, are the lead marketing partners with Pacific Concord Properties Inc for the Lancaster Brand of Condotels in the Philippines

For further info on Philippine Condo Hotel Investment opportunities please do not hesitate to contact us:

PLC International Marketing Networks
Pacific Concord Properties Inc.,
Manila Head Office
Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.
Metro Manila. Philippines
Phone: Manila [632] 717 1958
Fax: Manila [632] 718 1828

Pacific Concord Properties Inc.,
Cebu Branch Office
Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan.
Cebu. Philippines
Phone: Cebu [6332] 340 0721
Fax: [6332] 495 4938
EMail: plcsales@pldtdsl.net
Web: http://www.lancastersuites.com [Lancaster Condotels]
Web: http://www.condotel-manila.com [Lancaster Suites]
Web: http://www.condotel-sales.com [Lancaster Atrium]