A real estate pull from the homeland

Overseas Filipino workers, including those from Canada,  are fuelling the demand for condominiums in the Philippines.

Property developers are aggressively targeting overseas Filipino workers as an increasing number of them are investing their hard-earned money into properties in the Philippines.

Last year, property firm Century Properties registered a 16.6 per cent rise in pre-sales, exceeding its estimated US$490 million target, crediting the 11 million overseas Filipino workers for the robust sales of its residential properties, reported Channel News Asia.

Jose Antonio, founder and chairman of Century Properties Group explained: 

“They save a third of their monthly income for investments and their investments are normally channelled through real estate purchases. 

“During the early days of overseas Filipino workers’ sales and repatriation, they used to give their money to their relatives to help their relatives.

“But they discovered later on that there was no evidence or trace of their contribution to their relatives after a while because they were spent, so there has been a consensus among them to save on real estate.”

Remittances from overseas Filipinos workers account for about 10 per cent of the country’s GDP, which totalled more than US$20 billion last year.

The favourable standard down payment (20 to 30 per cent) and low bank interest rates (five to eight per cent) are enticing more Filipinos to invest back home, and even come back to Philippines for good.

After working abroad for almost a decade, Luis Arceno Jr finally decided to buy a one bedroom condominium unit in the heart of the Philippines’ central business district Makati.

Arceno Jr believes it is a wise investment as the 43-square-metre apartment’s value has now appreciated as much as 30 per cent from three years ago when he bought it.

And while he is still on contract in Brunei as an engineer, he is able to lease out his unit.

He said: “As an overseas Filipino worker, we have to anticipate and prepare for our retirement. And so it’s good to have an investment like this so that when the time comes when we cannot work abroad anymore, we would still have another source of income.”

Adelaida Rubiano, who has been working as a nurse for the past 12 years in Canada, shared the same sentiment.

Aside from an additional source of income, Rubiano said investing in real estate in the Philippines is a fulfilment of a lifelong wish.

Ignacio Dublois, who works in Canada, said it is about time to make an investment.

“We have a stable government now. It’s a good idea to invest now, unlike before. I plan to retire early since I have been working abroad for the past 22 years. I now plan to invest in a small bar or restaurant here in the Philippines.”

Over 30,000 Filipinos migrate to Canada every year. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas reported that 667,674 Filipinos now live in Canada, a large number of which availed of the Live-In Caregiver Program. 

Filipinos are now the top Asian immigrants in Canada. The Filipino community in Canada is a vital force in various sectors of that country, contributing to its socio-economic growth.

Canada has a big demand for people to work in industries like agriculture, mining and timber, manufacturing and a growing service sector. Jobs related to food and drinks also yield many opportunities for migrants. Filipinos are well preferred because of English language fluency, skillful, hardworking and persevering.

Canada will be implementing a new selection scheme called Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) starting May 4, 2013. It will be one of Canada’s main avenues to permanent immigration. Applicants will be selected based on capacity to adapt to Canada’s labor market, taking into account factors such as education, age, work experience, knowledge of English or French, arranged employment in Canada, adaptability (such as previous work experience or education acquired in Canada), that will help workers become economically established in Canada.

A report from the Philippine Embassy in Canada said that Canada prefers younger immigrants because they are more likely to acquire valuable experience and are better positioned to adapt to changing labor market conditions. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada plans to welcome 55,000 to 57,000 permanent residents under the FSWP. The embassy advised two steps that must be followed by applicants: First, meet the minimum language threshold, which is Level 7 of the Canadian Language Benchmark assessment system, and second, applicants should have their education credentials assessed prior to their arrival in Canada.