Japanese property broker bullish about PHL luxury market

Philippine economic fundamentals and higher purchasing power of Filipinos are the two main drivers that will grow the luxury real estate market, Japan’s List Sotheby’s International Realty said Thursday.

“With the right economic fundamentals, coupled with investors’ confidence and sound government policies, the luxury real estate market in the Philippines will keep on growing,” List Sotheby’s Philippine chief operating officer Darius Tenerife said told reporters during a press briefing in Taguig City.

In a separate interview with GMA News Online, Tenerife said the lower personal income tax rates under recently-enacted Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law will help increase the purchasing power of Filipinos.

“If you increase the purchasing power, that will be an opportunity as well for the property market to grow because that extra savings you get from reduced income tax might as well be put in investments such as real estate,” he said.

The Department of Finance earlier claimed that 99 percent of income tax payers will benefit from the TRAIN law which exempts those earning P250,000 a year from paying personal income tax.

“If you look at the TRAIN law, the basic impact of it is to increase the purchasing power so the opportunity is there already, property developers just have to come up with the right products,” Tenerife said.

He said List Sotheby’s was able to expand its portfolio from P18 billion when it first entered the market in 2016 to P41 billion so far this year.

The strong performance of the country’s real estate market paved the way for the luxury property segment to grow, Tenerife noted. —VDS, GMA News