However, Colliers reported that the take-up in the secondary market—referring to people looking to rent residential space—remained soft amid the influx of new supply.
Colliers reported a general downtrend in Metro Manila residential condominium rental rates and a continued increase in vacancy rates with the completion of new projects.
Some 2,000 residential units were taken up by the secondary market last year, 70 percent lower than the prior year and 66 percent lower than in 2012 when the take-up hit a record high.
But last year, property developers sold 38,800 residential units in Metro Manila via the preselling method, about 25 percent higher than the volume sold in 2015.
The volume of new residential launches, however, eased by 12 percent last year to 23,000, reflecting caution among property developers.
At end-2016, overall vacancy in Metro Manila stood at 10 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than the vacancy recorded in the first semester of the same year, based on Colliers’ estimate.
Colliers sees overall vacancy hovering at between 12 percent and 16 percent in the next 12 months with the delivery of an additional 22,800 units this year.
“The theme for residential property is there’s massive supply in the next four years. Rents have softened. However, prices managed to go up,” Colliers Philippines deputy managing director Richard Raymundo said in a press briefing on Thursday.
As there’s a gap of four to five years for residential projects to be completed, Raymundo said property developers would usually get a good price during the preselling period.
