Branded residences taking Philippine real estate by storm

One of Southeast Asia’s leading tiger economies, the Philippines is experiencing a rapid escalation in branded residences projects with an influx of overseas hospitality brands, and a wide spectrum of both urban and resort destinations across the massive archipelago. This market maturation is awakening a sleeping giant.

Based on market research from C9 Hotelworks’ newly released Philippines Branded Residences Market Review, the current supply is set to double from 5,319  existing units and an incoming pipeline now standing at 5,559. A significant number of upcoming projects, tallying 43 percent are in Metro Manila.

But moving past the nation’s capital, the most active destinations are Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, Davao, New Clark City, and Palawan. One of the key drives outside of city areas is the post-COVID-19 shift in lifestyle choices bolstered by trends led by work-from-anywhere, quality of life, and larger living spaces.

Diving into the sector and what international brands are most active, the leading global groups are ACCOR, Marriott, Banyan Tree, and ASCOTT. Most of these are multi-brand offerings so they have a selection of options for developers.

Checking out mega-trends that look to move the Philippines branded residences beyond the traditional domestic and OFW (overseas Filipino Workers) buyers set is a soaring global migration trend — spurred by geopolitical events, early retirement by a huge greying population across the globe, as well as technology that allows work from anywhere. The ability of foreign property buyers to own 40 percent of units in condominiums under a freehold regime is a strong advantage over other Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. We expect a strong influx of branded properties into the country over the next two to three years, given developers’ objective to seek premium in selling prices bolstered by a brand and diversification by hotel and resort developers to create mixed-use projects to drive early investment returns.

To find out more, check out C9 Hotelworks’ Philippines Branded Residences Market Review here.

About Bill Barnett

Bill Barnett — a globally recognised hospitality, tourism, and real estate advisor — is the founder and managing director of Asia-based C9 Hotelworks and esteemed member of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Greater Niseko) Judging Panel.

In addition to being a leading consultant, he is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences.  With over 30 years’ experience in the Asia Pacific region, he has an extensive background in hotel operations, development, and asset management. His past employment highlights include Senior Corporate roles at international hotel chains and publically listed companies. Bill is considered to be one of the foremost industry experts in the hotel residences sector.  To date, Bill is the author of four books on travel, property, and hospitality under the titles of Slave to the Bean, Collective Swag, It Might Get Weird and Last Call.    

For more information, email: [email protected].