The activity of Chinese buyers in the Philippines has levelled out in the third quarter of 2019, following a rapid increase earlier in the year.

The year-on-year growth rate in the number of buying enquiries made by Chinese buyers for Philippine property hit the relatively flat rate of growth of just 3.6 per cent.

It follows an extended period of interest from Chinese buyers, dating back to the second quarter of last year.

Juwai Executive Chairman and Chairman of iCar Asia, Georg Chmiel, said the growing Chinese demand was reflected in the new developments that Chinese developers are building in the Bay Area and Makati.

"While not exclusively targeting Chinese buyers, developers from mainland China are attracted to the same economics and long-term growth prospects as are Chinese investors," he said.

"Chinese demand for residential real estate comes from offshore investors attracted to the Philippine growth story. 

"It also stems from the offshore gaming industry and its employees, which reports estimate at 136,000 to 200,000 in number.

Mr Chimel said while Juwei doesn’t have an official statistic for the value of Chinese investment in residential property, it is significant.

"Data from Ayala Land suggests that company alone sold P25.5 billion (US$500 million) to Chinese buyers last year," he said.

"SM Development Corp. also revealed that, in some quarters, 30 per cent of its residential sales have been to Chinese investors. 

Source: Juwai.com

"That is much higher than the 10 per cent share that went to buyers from China in 2017. 

"In 2016, SM Development sold only five per cent of its inventory to Chinese buyers."

 Juwai.com’s own data indicates there has not been a single quarter of negative growth in Chinese buying enquiries for Philippine property since the first quarter of 2015, with the quarterly growth rate ranging as high as 375.8 per cent in recent years. 

When the current growth trend started, the number of Chinese buying in the Philippines was extremely low. 

The Philippines ranked only 19th among destinations for Chinese residential property acquisitions in 2014 – well below even other Southeast Asian nations. 

By 2018, the country had moved up the ranks to the 12th most popular country worldwide for Chinese residential real estate investment.

Mr Chimel said the previous obscurity associated with the nation was rapidly changing, with the the National Capital Region accounting for nearly 80 per cent of Chinese buying. 

"The key factors that encourage Chinese investment include the strong real estate market, region-leading economic growth, large infrastructure investments, the Philippines’ participation in the Belt & Road project, low prices by Asian and global standards, and the growth of the offshore gaming industry," he said.

"In 2020, we expect Chinese investment to continue to be an important part of the Philippine residential market."

Similar to this: 

Colliers International urge Philippine developers to harness market demand

Manila likely to outpace 2017 condominium sales

Secondary Asian cities 'creep back' into top ten of Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index