Affordable Housing Demand Increased in April

According to an industry briefer published by the Board of Investments (BOI) in 2018, the country’s housing backlog is at 3.9 million households with demand primarily from the economic, socialized and low-cost housing segments. From the year 2000 to 2011, the aforementioned segments dominated industry productivity at a total housing production of 70%. The same report forecasted that the same segments, as well as those who cannot afford housing, would compose the entirety of estimated housing need from 2012 to 2030. Data today has only further highlighted the urgency of addressing housing needs.

Activity on Lamudi in recent months has pointed towards increased demand in the low-cost pricing segment with listings of properties priced between 1.5M and 3M attracting the most pageviews and leads in April 2021. Most pageviews and leads for houses and condominium units on Lamudi were also concentrated in the low-cost pricing segment. 

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Mounting cost of living in Metro Manila

Last April, a study by iPrice Group revealed Manila to be the third most expensive city to live in Southeast Asia despite having the lowest estimated average net salary in the region. iPrice estimates the costs of living in the capital to be 168% higher than the average salary.

In spite of this, many continue to flock to the city in search of higher wages, job variety and education, among other opportunities. It is often mentioned that Metro Manila has a different population size in the day and at night due to the number of workers who commute out of the city and to their homes in the evenings. Earlier this year, Dutch location tech company TomTom International B.V. released its 2020 Traffic Index Report which listed Metro Manila as the fourth city with the worst traffic congestion in the world.

With prices in commercial districts usually much higher, many employees have resorted to enduring long commutes in order to get to work – either hopping from service vans to rail to jeepneys or driving for hours on end in standstill traffic to get to their destination.

Driving inclusive and sustainable growth

One of the key strategies taken by the government to decongest the metro is to promote development in its peripheral areas. Recent years have seen more development to the north and south of Metro Manila, in places such as Clark as well as in the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas or CALABA corridor. 

According to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), 73% of the government’s priority infrastructure projects were focused on transport and mobility and urban development as of May 2021. These include projects such as the North-South Commuter Railway Extension from Malolos to Clark, the MRT Line 4 facilitating mass transit access from Metro Manila to Rizal, and the EDSA Greenways Project improving pedestrian areas and promoting the use of the MRT. A popular project among private developers is the creation of master-planned communities and township developments outside of the Metro that integrate living, working and leisure to enhance its residents’ quality of life. 

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Inter-industry approach towards economic recovery

As part of their convergence program, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) have spearheaded the construction of projects such as Lobo-Malabrigo-San Juan-Laiya Road Project along the Batangas coast, while local governments such as that of Ilocos Norte have organized incentive programs aimed to attract remote workers, students and entrepreneurs to work from, put up shop, retire or live in the province long-term.

Their efforts not only align with decongesting the metro and providing easier access to the provinces, but also stimulating the local economy and supporting the tourism and tourism adjacent industries in those areas. With remote work becoming the norm for many, hotels have pivoted towards offering long-term stay packages and even work-from-home (WFH) packages, complete with access to wifi 24/7 and free kitchen use in some hostels.

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Article and Photo originally posted by Lamudi last July 9, 2021.

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