Opportunities Rise Amid the Shift to Suburbia

While several locations in the Metro Manila property market continue to be challenged with high vacancy levels both in the office and residential sectors, areas outside the country's capital are telling a different story as opportunities are rising amid the shift to suburbia.

- By CATHERINE TALAVERA

In a media briefing earlier this week, Colliers Philippines director for research Joey Roi Bondoc highlighted that there is an ongoing "shift to suburbia" with the rise of opportunities in areas outside Metro Manila that were once not ideal for condominium and office projects.

"Suburbia, meaning the proliferation of developments in the key areas outside of the metro, the suburban. So, for example, these areas were previously not ideal for office spaces, condominiums, or luxury lot-only projects. But right now, they are becoming more ideal for these types of developments. One example outside of Metro Manila, a very easy example and pretty hard to miss, is Cavite," Bondoc said.

He explained that for the longest time, Cavite used to serve as a bedroom community for some employees working in the metro who travel from Cavite all the way to Metro Manila, and then back to Cavite after their nine-to-five shift.

"But what we're seeing in Cavite right now are townships and integrated communities proliferating in the province. So that's one shift to suburbia that we have seen," Bondoc said.

He also cited Pampanga as another area, noting that a lot of major developers already have projects in locations such as San Fernando and Angeles City.