UK Private equity units of banks and investment clubs, driven in part by the current strength of the Pound Sterling in international trading, are being attracted by returns in the Philippines as much as double those in the United States and Europe, are purchasing significant blocks of real estate for investment trusts for Asian commercial property. There are large amounts of capital now chasing increasingly limited investment-grade real-estate opportunities in Asia, said Collingz. We are currently in the closing stages of packaging the investment of some $20M in private-equity real estate funds for new Lancaster Brand Apart-Hotel or Condotel developments in Metro Manila and Cebu, on the strength of expected rental returns which will continue to grow at a rapid pace. With funds raised for commercial property deals in Asia having doubled in each of the past five years, Collingz see the market value of Condotel investments in the Philippines reaching new heights in 2007/8 as more developments come on line.
Rising demand for homes, hotels, short and medium term rental accommodation, offices and shopping malls in the Philippines, home to a population of almost 80 million and with a significant number of the more than 10 million returning overseas Filipino ‘Baby Boomers’, is fueling rents. Residential rents in Metro Manila rose 26 percent in the three months to March 2007, their highest quarter-on-quarter increase in more than a decade, as more and more IT companies set up shop in the Philippines. Companies like Texas Instruments are investing $1B in expanded operations in the Philippines. High-end rents rose some 13 percent from a year earlier, said Collingz.
Collingz projects that Rents in the region are set to effectively jump up by at least 8.7 percent per annum over the next five years, compared with 3.3 percent in the United States and 3.7 percent in Europe. Yields from 8 percent to as high as 14-16 percent ROI on rental income property contrast with the 4 percent to 5 percent that private equity firms get in the United States and Europe.