Up to 20% of luxury properties goes to international buyers – Ayala Land exec

Fifteen to 20 percent of the luxury properties sold by Ayala Land Premier are bought in the international market as foreign buyers treat Philippine real estate as part of their asset holdings, a company official revealed on Thursday.

 

In a roundtable interview with reports, Mike Jugo, Ayala Land Premier head of sales, said international buyers – foreigners and Filipinos working abroad – account for 15 percent to 20 percent of their high-end properties.

 

"In our experience, as far as non-Filipinos (are concerned), they are looking at Philippines as a place to invest and real estate as a place [for] their assets," he said.

 

"Looking at the last four years, we have seen the international market grow," he added. 

 

Jugo said luxury condominiums in the Philippines are "affordable" compared to other places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and mainland China.

 

"Because of that, I think a lot more players in the region start looking at the Philippine real estate," he said. 

 

Some of ALP's foreign buyers are Hong Kong expats and Singapore businessmen, he added. 

 

"I think the foreign investor market looks at the one- to two-bedroom units as a good investment for yield purposes," he said, referring to international buyers that opt to rent out their units.

 

Jugo disclosed that they are not "heavily" selling to the foreign market, preferring the buyers to actually "live" in the condominium units, citing that only 1 to 2 percent of the buyers stay in the property. 

 

During the same interview, AYP's head Jose Juan Jugo – not related to Mike – said 70 percent of the units in the company's Two Roxas Triangle in Makati City and the East Gallery Place in Taguig City have been sold. 

 

Jose Juan said some P7 billion worth of units, at P11 million to P70 million per unit, in the 52-story Two Roxas Triangle have been sold, more than a year after it was launched.

 

Similarly, majority of the 407 units at the East Gallery Place in Bonifacio Global City have been sold, including the P200-million condominium with a 25-meter lap pool, garden deck, and a private elevator. 

 

The 1,400-square-meter unit was the most expensive condominium sold in the Philippine market, Jugo claimed. 

 

The properties will be turned over in the first quarter of 2019. – VS, GMA News