Local buyers boost Ayala Land sales, says CEO

Domestic demand is boosting sales of Ayala Land Inc., more than demand from abroad, a company official said Thursday.   “As far as Ayala land is concerned, a greater number of buyers are coming from the Philippine front,” ALI president and CEO Antonino Aquino said in a press conference Thursday at the Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City.   Properties are running out even for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) because of a demand from within the country, according to the property developer.   “There is actually very little that’s left. The over-all number is not as high from the OFW side largely because the Philippine domestic demand is just too strong for the products that we had,” Aquino said.   Around 30 percent of demand for Ayala properties comes from overseas, Jose Juan Jugo, Ayala Land Premier president, told GMA News Online.   Ayala Land Premier is the ALI subsidiary for upscale market and development.   Housing bubble?   Aquino said they have so far protected the property value of their products to maintain demand from domestic clients.   Asked about the possibility of oversupply in the property sector that could risk a housing bubble, Aquino said the company is approaching the market with “operational efficiencies” and not by “arbitrarily increasing price” and supply as demand rises.   He brushed off the possibility of a housing bubble, citing the country’s “bullish” economy” that has proven favorable to the property sector.   The country’s low interest rates, narrow deficit, and high remittances have been favorable for the land developer to embark on their most ambitious P30-billion mixed-used development in Global City, said Aquino.   “The Philippine economy has proven its resiliency,” he added. —VS, GMA News