CREBA rallies industry in race for foreign investments

Tapping the overseas market – where there is an estimated 3.5 to four million Filipino expatriates, Americans and other foreign investors qualified to invest in Philippine property – may be key to revitalizing the country’s real estate industry and giving the economy a much-needed shot in the arm.

It is with this overriding objective that the Chamber of Real Estate and Builder’s Association (CREBA), the biggest umbrella organization of real estate developers, builders, allied professionals and entities in the Philippines, has been intensifying efforts to establish strong linkages in the international market.

CREBA president Florentino Dulalia Jr. said that CREBA’s active efforts and initiatives in the international front is among its most notable achievements to date. Fully exploiting the vast market for local real property overseas – comprised not only of expatriates and former citizens but prospective retirees as well as Overseas Filipino Workers, prospective consultants and investors, would considerably boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Indeed, if only one percent of some three million buyers in the US alone is tapped, at an average of $50,000 for every housing package, it can spur business activity for the country’s 65 other ancillary industries, and bring in to the country some P1.5 billion in foreign exchange earnings every year for the next five years.

Dulalia also highlighted recent significant developments that augur well not just for a more vigorous construction sector but the overall economy, during a recent gathering of the heads of some of the country’s foremost construction organizations at the Architectural Center Club in Makati, where they firmed up support for DesignBuild 2003, the country’s foremost and first fully integrated building industry trade show slated Sept. 25 to 28, 2003 at The PICC Forum.

A the said forum, Dulalia also mentioned that during his recent business trip to the US, seven chapters were inducted, as part of the CREBA International Foundation’s thrusts to help developers market real estate project abroad, establish business development through technology transfer and information dissemination. CREBA International Chapters serve as arms in the selection, evaluation and accreditation of CREBA’s marketing partners based in the US and other foreign countries.

In the local setting, Dulalia expressed optimism that the industry will experience an upswing, and demand for projects, especially low-cost-housing, will continue. With the recent improvements in the country’s lending rate and the projected improvement of per capita income, the residential sector should have had an upward growth rate this year, he said. Dulalia also stated that at present, "except for shopping malls, all sectors of the real estate industry are still suffering from slowdown in demand."