In terms of city investment prospects, Metro Manila ranks third after India’s Bangalore and Mumbai among 22 cities in the Asia-Pacific region, the latest research on emerging trends in real estate commissioned by Urban Land Institute (ULI) and global advisory firm PwC has shown.
Together with Ho Chi Minh, these four are the only cities with scores deemed “generally good” while the rest received “fair” ratings, Inquirer quoted the survey report.
Metro Manila remains among Asia-Pacific’s most attractive urban hubs for developers and yield-seeking real estate investors this year, especially in the office and shopping mall space.
On city development prospects, the Philippine capital ranked fourth next to Bangalore, Ho Chi Minh and Mumbai. Again, these four cities received “generally good” scores compared to “fair” ratings obtained by the rest. They outranked cities like Shenzhen, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bangkok, Sydney, Guangzhou, Beijing and Tokyo, the report said.
“Compared to previous years, top rankings have been taken over by emerging market cities,” Ken Rhee, ULI’s chief representative to China who presented the latest research, reportedly said.
This year’s investment prospects showed a strong shift away from last year’s favorites—which were dominated by Japan and Australia—in favor of emerging markets like India, Vietnam and the Philippines, said the news portal.
Singapore has likewise seen a sharp decline in appeal, now ranking close to the bottom at 21st from 11th a year ago and after grabbing the top slot in 2011 and 2012. The results also showed a change in strategy from “flight to safety” to “quest for yield”.
From 2007 to 2012, Metro Manila was reportedly a bottom-dweller on the ULI-PwC annual list, ranking between 18 to 20 in terms of investment prospects. In 2013, it improved its ranking to 12th place, rising to fourth place in 2014 and staying at 8th place in the last two years.
“The Philippines has attracted positive comment for the last several editions of this report, with a vibrant economy led by a booming BPO (business process outsourcing) and strong remittances from overseas workers,” the research reportedly said.
