News roundup: Dubai residential sales hit a new high in May, plus other stories

For PropertyGuru’s real estate news roundup, residential transactions in Dubai increased 44.2 percent year-on-year in May. In other news, Hanoi’s tourism sector is working to develop effective strategies to attract visitors during summer. And finally, the Philippines is projected to achieve sustained growth for the remainder of the year.

Residential sales in Dubai hit a new high in May

According to CBRE, a global leader in commercial real estate advisory services, the total number of residential transactions in Dubai increased 44.2 percent year-on-year in May to 15,766, the highest monthly figure on record.

According to CBRE’s latest edition of Dubai’s Residential Market Notes, the volume of sales transactions during the first five months soared to 62,180, a 384.3 percent increase from the 2019 comparable figure and 30.0 percent higher than the 2023 record high.

PropertyNews.ae reports that this YoY growth has been driven by a 42.6 percent increase in off-plan sales and an 11.3 percent increase in secondary market sales.

Hanoi works to encourage summer travellers to stay longer

Hanoi’s tourism sector is working to develop effective strategies to attract visitors during summer, which often sees relatively fewer tourists staying in the capital city compared to autumn and winter.

According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the city now houses 3,760 accommodation establishments with 71,246 rooms. Specifically, there are 607 hotels and apartment complexes rated from 1 to 5 stars, accommodating 26,641 rooms. The majority of guests in 4- and 5-star hotels are usually business travellers or short-term tourists.

Nguyen Hong Minh, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, said in VietnamPlus that Hanoi lacks large-scale hotels offering more than 1,000 rooms and comprehensive services, including accommodation, sports, and entertainment. While the restaurant and culinary service infrastructure is developing, it remains decentralised and not well-integrated with local hotels and resorts to create effective value chains.

Philippine industrial sector on growth trajectory — Colliers

The Philippine economy is starting to recover. With a 5.5 percent growth in 2023, the country was the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. The Philippines is projected to achieve sustained growth for the remainder of the year and this is likely to make the country one of the fastest if not the fastest growing Southeast Asian economy.

But while the Philippines is receiving more investment pledges from Asian and European countries, particularly those funnelled into manufacturing and renewable sectors, the country still lags behind its Southeast Asian peers.  In 2022, for instance, the Philippines attracted USD9.4 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs), much less than the FDIs attracted by Thailand (USD11.2 billion), Malaysia (USD14.7 billion), Indonesia (USD24.7 billion), and Singapore (USD140.8 billion).

The Philippines has a lot of catching up to do, as BusinessWorld reports. But if the country wants to attract more foreign investments that will eventually absorb industrial space and warehouses, the government needs to ensure that the Philippines is open for business, that is, the business registration process is streamlined; corruption is minimized or eliminated; and infrastructure network is comparable to what our ore progressive nations boast of.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].