Most Pinoys would rather rent than acquire own property – study

MANILA, Philippines - There is gold waiting to be explored in residential leasing in the Philippine property market with most Filipinos still unable to buy a property of their own.

In its maiden real estate report, global property platform Lamudi said over two thirds of Filipinos are looking to rent rather than buy property as affordability remains the primary reason.

Called Real Estate in the Emerging Markets, the report was based on a series of online surveys conducted with house-hunters and real estate agents in 16 emerging countries that included the Philippines.

For the Philippines, the Lamudi report showed that 60.7 percent of renters surveyed said they could not afford to buy property at present.

“House-hunters cited various reasons why they chose to rent rather than buy. Many said they were currently looking to buy but had not yet found the right property. Others gave financial reasons, including not having the money for a down payment or wanting to buy on a cash basis. Still others were foreigners who face restrictions in buying real property,” Lamudi said.

As for those surveyed who have already bought their own property, the report said security has been cited as the primary motivation for purchasing a home.

With the Philippines at present seen more as a “rental society,” Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services head of research and consulting Jose Romarx Salas said leasing would present the biggest opportunity in the property sector in the coming years.

“Leasing is an untapped business model in residential real estate. In fact, while property developers are raking huge profits in sales, many of them are not exerting any efforts when it comes to leasing,” Salas said in the report.

“But when all of the (upcoming) projects are online, there will be competition for rents. It will be good for tenants, and good for brokers to do leasing brokerage. So that’s an opportunity for the local real estate market,” he added.

In terms of the entire Philippine property sector, Lamudi said the country’s strong economic outlook and favorable demographics are likely to keep the Philippine property market on its upward trajectory over the next decade.

Lamudi said with a strong economy and improvement in areas like transparency and governance, more investors have turned their attention to the country’s capital, making its residential, retail and office sectors strong investment prospects.

“The primary conclusion that we have drawn from our research is that the future for the Philippine property sector is extremely bright. The country’s real estate market has emerged as one of the most promising in the Asia Pacific region,” Lamudi’s global co-founder and managing director Kian Moini said.

Lamudi is a global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets, generating about one million visitors per month. Its fast-growing platform is currently available in 28 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with more than 600,000 real estate listings across its global network.