OFW phenomenon to continue in 2006

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OFW phenomenon to continue in 2006

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I read this awhile back on the Philippine Daily Inquirer and I thought I would share this to all you out there.

By Tessa R. Salazar
Inquirer News Service

WILL OVERSEAS Filipino workers’ investments in their home country continue to rise or slacken this year? Optimistic developers and real estate firms believe more money from OFWs will be pouring in.

Eric Soriano, ERA Philippines country president and CEO, said home mortgage investments develop “discipline” in the form of forced savings on OFW dependents.

“Our studies have shown that there is a 92 percent repayment of monthly amortizations among OFW homebuyers, a positive indicator for the industry,” Soriano said.
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“I believe the iceberg for OFW markets is very deep,” he added.

Top priorities

According to him, statistics have shown that education and real estate are still top priorities for any OFW provider. Reinforcing OFW remittances are new money coming from balikbayans from North America and Europe.

Marivic AÃ±onuevo, vice president and head of Ayala Land Inc.’s leisure and lifestyle communities, said the number of Filipinos leaving the Philippines to work abroad continues to grow at around 12.5 percent.

“Although this is really a sad phenomenon, this indicates however that the amount of dollars earned and remitted back home continues to grow. Rather than slacking off, therefore, we in ALI feel that we have only mined what we believe is the tip of the large OFW market.”

Danilo E. Ignacio, general manager of Robinsons Land Corp.-high rise building division, said RLC is confident that the OFW investments in real estate will remain.

Owning their home

Jose EB Antonio, chairperson of Century Properties Group and Meridien Development Group, said that 30 percent of the income of OFWs in general is spent on housing, whether to buy a new home, fix present homes or pay for rent.

“The quest for the Filipino dream of owning their home is foremost in the minds of OFWs. It is also worthwhile to note that the average income of an OFW has increased, as more white collar workers and technical people are working abroad,” Antonio said.

Soriano observed that historically, spikes in OFW remittances occur every middle and end of the year.

“However, with the continuous deployment of new OFWs in existing and new geographical markets and the increase in remittance month on month, we can expect a steady stream of real estate business from the sector all throughout the year,” he said.

AÃ±onuevo estimated that ALI overseas sales accounted for nearly 20 to 25 percent of the total sales volume generated by the ALI parent company, including subsidiaries such as Community Innovations Inc and LPHI. She added that recognizing this large potential, ALI has established Ayala Land International Sales Inc.

Ignacio said that RLC markets selected projects internationally. “Revenues generated from our international marketing efforts account for a substantial portion of our sales. We thus intend to pursue building this segment,” he said.
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