OFWs seen to fuel growth of real estate sector

Local property developers are banking on the dollar-earning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to fuel the growth of the real estate sector.

Rosemarie Basa, chairperson of the CREBA Socialized Housing Foundation Inc., said they believe more remittances can be expected to flow in "if OFWs and balikbayans are given practical and feasible ways to invest in the Philippines, especially in real estate properties."

In the first half of this year alone, OFW remittances amounted to $6 billion and is expected to reach $12 billion for the whole year.

The Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA) is thus launching a Philippine Properties Expo from Jan. 11 to 14, 2007 specifically to target the OFW market. Most OFWs, Basa said, "want to spend their hard-earned money back home."

In fact, Basa pointed out that affluent Filipinos from the United States, Switzerland and Australia are in the market for upscale properties. She said balikbayans and OFWs who have been used to first world comfort are looking for property developments that approximate the kind of amenities they are used to.

Basa assured that the local property sector remains bullish despite the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the intermittent political upheavals on the domestic front.

Competitive interest rates, more liberal lending policies by financial institutions, and sustained government initiatives, have created a climate that encourages developers to build and for consumers to buy, Basa said.

She further noted that "even foreigners are coming in with the interest of buying homes and staying in the future."

The Philippine Properties Expo slated next year at the Mall of Asia will include reputable sellers and will revolve around the theme "Balik-Bahayan... Sariling Bahay sa Sariling Bayan," Basa said.

Earlier, well-known architect and property developer Gilbert Yu had cited the potential investor gold mine from retiring OFWs.

Yu said the first wave of OFWs that left the country 40 years ago are now set to retire and are intent on returning to the Philippines because of the much cheaper cost of living.

He estimated that each retiring OFW may be bringing home anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000.

With at least 20,000 OFWs coming home each year, Yu said, there would be an inflow of $2 billion or P110 billion annually. Most of these OFWs, he said, would probably invest their hard-earned savings in buying a retirement home.

The potential investment in the housing and real estate sector, Yu pointed out, would help spur the economy anew. However, the government should already prepare the housing and real estate sector for the potential inflow, as failure to do so, could lead to possible swindles or bad experiences on the part of the returning OFWs.

If such a thing happens, Yu said, the returning OFWs may choose not to bring back their funds and instead keep them abroad.

Even now, advertisements abroad (particularly in the United States) for Philippine real estate and housing developments carry warnings that such projects may not assure completion, Yu said.

The California Department of Real Estate, for instance, advises potential Filipino-American buyers to consult a lawyer or a knowledgeable professional about such real estate developments.

Yu stressed that any bad experience on the part of returning OFWs could spread like wild fire and convince others not to invest in the Philippines.

He pointed out that returning OFWs would not only bring in cash, but would also result in a "brain gain" much like what China is experiencing. China’s economic resurgence is partially fuelled by returning Chinese who have earned and studied abroad and are now investing back in China and bringing home their learned expertise.