CEBU, Philippines - The construction boom is expected to continue its momentum on the back of sustained economic fundamentals, the national president of the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA).
"The construction boom is a result of the good economic condition in our country," said Christopher Narciso, also president and COO of Taft Property Venture Development Corp, in an interview with reporters last Friday.
"The numbers speak for itself. The supply is far less than the new demand every year. There is also the backlog," the official said.
"With those fundamentals alone, we will continue to have a healthy housing market," Narciso further said.
Property developers have asked the government to address the issues affecting them such as the bureaucracy and corruption.
Narciso noted that if these issues are addressed and that "better" industry initiatives are in place, the construction boom and the healthy real estate growth in general would surely be sustained.
"Of course there are other factors like the interest rates but that would sustain it or make it more bigger," the SHDA president said.
In its 2016 report, Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC) noted the Philippine construction sector is expected to grow in the next four years, reaching $47.0 billion in 2020 boosted by the residential and the infrastructure markets.
CIC "forecast the Philippine construction industry to rise from $30.2 billion in 2015 to $47.0 billion in 2020, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.22 percent,” read the report entitled Construction in the Philippines-Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020.
The CIC report, which provides data and analysis on the global construction industry, also noted that the growth would root from infrastructure improvement, “favorable” public-private partnerships and the prolonged expansion of residential and commercial buildings.
The residential market is seen to account for as much as 33.9 percent of the industry’s total value in 2020 — the largest contributor to the Philippine construction industry in the succeeding years, driven by the expanding middle-class population, urbanization of underprivileged areas and housing projects for low-and middle-income groups.
On the other hand, the infrastructure market is expected to be the second largest contributor and the fastest growth sector in the construction industry, the report said, noting the said market to reach $14.7 billion in 2020 at a CAGR of 14.14 percent.
This is driven by government's ambitious infrastructure spending plan to develop high-speed rail links, highways and sea ports through PPPs. (FREEMAN)