Unfazed by lockdowns, luxury land and condos just got pricier this year

MANILA, Philippines — Prices of luxury residential spaces continued to appreciate this year despite 19 months of coronavirus lockdowns that have cooled the once hot Philippine property market, real estate brokerage firm Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) said. 

For instance, land values in Ayala Alabang have reached an all-time high of P200,000 per square meter as of this quarter, up from P150,000 per sqm in the same period last year, LPC reported on Wednesday. This is because “luxury products have the ability to weather downturns,” Tam Angel, LPC’s director for investment sales, said in an online press conference.

“Luxury village continue to increase pricing, but at more conservative pace,” Angel added.

Elsewhere, LPC said even already pricey pieces of real estate like those in Dasmariñas Village in Makati City saw lot prices appreciate by 1% on-year to P500,000 per sqm.

Meanwhile, luxury condominiums such as those located in Makati City and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) continued to gain value amid the pandemic. Take for example Shangri-la Hotel’s Horizon Homes, which LPC said retained the title of “most expensive” around the country, with a square meter of this BGC real estate reportedly costing P786,000.

For LPC, real estate owners held their positions and are maintaining a longer-term view as economic recovery picks up. David Leechiu, chief executive of LPC, said he has been encouraging people to buy spaces in BGC as they could run out soon. 

LPC forecasts local property prices to skyrocket in 2022, citing past crises like the 2008 Global Financial Crisis when demand for spaces shot up in the six months of the last year of the meltdown.

“In 2022’s economic recovery, it’s going to wipe out all that space in (BGC) quickly,” Leechiu said. “The boom started in 2004, from then it has had a steady climb despite politics, natural disasters, and elections, it was able to weather any crisis,” he added.