Buyers Look For Houses In These Areas Outside Metro Manila

Much has been said about the high volume of people living within the National Capital Region (NCR). It remains the country’s most densely populated region with over 20,000 people per square kilometer, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. In contrast, the overall country average stands at only 337 people per square kilometer.

Metro Manila’s increasingly crowded living situation has spurred property developers and buyers alike to look into opportunities in surrounding areas. And a study from online real estate portal Property24 shows that users searching for house and lots in their platform are gravitating toward certain cities.

The study, which is based on search results in the first quarter of 2018, revealed that 79 percent of Property24 users searching for house and lots outside NCR were looking at Angeles City in Pampanga, emerging as the area with the highest search inquiries in the study. Not far behind is Antipolo City in Rizal, which received interest from 78 percent of house and lot seekers.

Sta. Rosa City in Laguna came in third with 67 percent of house and lot seekers looking at the area, while Tagaytay City saw searches from 37 percent of users. Property24 also pointed out that cities in Cavite such as Dasmariñas, General Trias and Imus were also getting notable search activity for potential house and lot buyers. (Property24 counted multiple searches from users, explaining why the total is more than 100 percent.)

“Employees and entrepreneurs, especially those with families, want to have a healthy work-life balance,” said Tina Bautista, head of real estate at Property24, in a statement. “They don’t mind living a bit further away from work if it means being in a community that’s conducive to raising a family and being able to disconnect from their work grind like during weekends.”

Aside from being less congested, Property24 also noted that house and lots in these areas are “significantly cheaper than in Metro Manila.” In fact, the company noted that the average price of these house and lots outside NCR were comparable to the average price of a condominium unit in the region.

Property24 is part of the OLX Group, which runs the country’s largest online listings manager. In 2017, property listings in both Property24 and OLX Philippines received an average of two million page visits monthly, with the former carrying listings from real estate developers and the latter listing properties being sold by other consumers.

*****

Lorenzo Kyle Subido is a staff writer of Entrepreneur PH

This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Realliving.com.ph editors.