Chinese eye bigger slice of Manila as real estate prices tank

CENTRAL, Hong Kong - June 9, 2020 - PRLog -- Chinese property investors are eyeing a bigger slice of the Manila property market amid falling real estate prices triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

With the Philippines facing the worst economic downturn in 30 years, prices are set to fall by up to 15%, according to Colliers International.

That could force local real estate holders to sell at huge losses and create fears that Filipinos could be priced out when the property market recovers.

"They are going to sell at whatever price to get a buyer," said property consultant David Leechiu, who warned of steeper price falls if community quarantine and travel restrictions continue.

That's a scenario that many buyers have been waiting for.

"Some Chinese are waiting for rush sale," one Chinese real estate broker at a Manila property developer told Nikkei, speaking on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to the media. "They are observing if prices and demand fall."

Chinese buyers have been on a real estate asset binge over the last few years as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shrugged off years of resentment over Chinese aggression in the South China Sea to embrace closer ties with Beijing.

https://housingmarketgroup.com/2020/06/06/chinese-eye-bigger-slice-of-manila-as-real-estate-prices-tank/