Try GOLD - Free
The state of Asia's real estate
Manila Bulletin
|December 12, 2025
Fresh from the sessions of the Asia Real Estate Summit (ARES) 2025 at The Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, I left with one clear takeaway: Asia's property landscape is shifting-quietly in some corners, dramatically in others-but always with intention.
Powered by PropertyGuru, this year's summit gathered the full breadth of the real estate ecosystem: developers, investors, agents, designers, policymakers, and media. It felt less like a conference and more like a barometer of where our cities and communities are headed.
With the theme "Trusted Marketplaces, Thriving Communities," ARES 2025 delivered a series of conversations that underscored that the future of real estate in Asia is no longer just about building; it's about building better.
The sessions spanned the region's economic outlook, the evolution of experiential design, the rise of branded residences, wellness-anchored communities, and the powerful entry of AI into property markets.
Jules Kay, general manager of Awards and Events at PropertyGuru Group, opened the summit by framing this year's ethos: "We are connecting technology with design, finance with sustainability, data with human experience, policy with innovation, these all come together at ARES."
This story is from the December 12, 2025 edition of Manila Bulletin.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Manila Bulletin
Manila Bulletin
Maharlika keeps Middle East deals
Despite an escalating war in the Middle East, nothing is stopping Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), which manages the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund (SWF), and its partners in the region from moving forward with their ongoing projects.
2 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
Digital health gaps persist
The Philippines continues to face key governance and workforce hurdles in advancing digital health, according to a joint report by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage.
2 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
Budget deficit widens past target
The Marcos Jr. administration's budget deficit widened last year, overshooting its ceiling as a shortfall in tax collections and a plunge in non-tax revenue outweighed eleventh-hour spending cuts by the government.
2 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
Manila Archdiocese opens Asia's first exorcism center in Makati
Asia’s first exorcism center — the St. Michael Center for Exorcism and Spiritual Liberation - named after St. Michael the Archangel, the defender against evil, officially opened in Guadalupe, Makati City to address the rising number of cases involving “spiritual distress.”
1 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
MSME loans rise in 2025, still lag
Banks' loans to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) increased by 5.2 percent to P575 billion by the end of December 2025, a figure still seen as providing limited financing opportunities for the segment.
2 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
National Women’s Month: Empowering women, empowering the nation
Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
3 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
Marcos, South Korean President Lee meet in Palace
President Marcos and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met at the Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, March 3, for the latter's two-day state visit.
1 min
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
DepEd clears 5,335 teacher promotion backlogs
The Department of Education (DepEd) has secured approval for more than 5,000 teacher promotion backlogs, advancing the implementation of its Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System and reinforcing the administration's commitment to strengthening public school teachers' welfare and professional growth.
3 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
Is your child giving you a hard time?
Learning the importance of self-regulation
2 mins
March 4, 2026
Manila Bulletin
A stronger DENR-LGU collaboration
We laud the recent decision by President Bongbong Marcos Jr. to name erstwhile Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Juan Miguel “Mitch” Cuna as the new head of the agency, succeeding the newly-appointed envoy to the Vatican, Raphael Lotilla.
3 mins
March 4, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size