Wednesday, October 4, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Special Pages
    • Pets
    • Tech
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • On the Road
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Cravings
    • Environment & Sustainability
    • Agriculture
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns Business Class by Rudy Romero

Real estate sector bucked pandemic downturn

Rudy RomerobyRudy Romero
December 1, 2020, 12:05 am
in Business Class by Rudy Romero, Real Estate
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

"What the economy needs is a sector that will act as a catalyst and lead the way to recovery."

 

(First of two parts)

In February this year, the Philippine government prohibited inward and outward airline flights, and on March 15 President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the lockdown of Metro Manila and a number of immediately surrounding provinces. Under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), land transportation was severely curtailed, movement without quarantine passes was prohibited and only business establishments producing essential goods and services were allowed to operate, but on a reduced-capacity basis. In July the lockdown status of Metro Manila and its immediate provincial neighbors was lightened to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) and subsequently to the even lighter general community quarantine (GCQ).

Metro Manila has been under lockdown longer than any other country or territory.

Considering that Metro Manila and the immediately surrounding Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizan and Quezon) provinces account for an estimated 25 percent of this country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the very long lockdown’s negative impact was bound to be severe. Proving all estimates of second-quarter production decline grossly wrong, Philippine GDP contracted during the April 1-June 30 quarter by 16.3% — the largest contraction since the system of GDP accounting was established. With the easing of the lockdown, the decline of GDP was reduced to 11.5 percent in the third quarter.

With all airline flights either banned or curtailed, service establishments and manufacturers of non-essential goods prohibited from operating and the land transportation sector subjected to sharply reduced schedules, most of the nation’s business establishments either adapted to the harsh IATF guidelines or stopped operating completely. Millions of employees, especially employees of MSMEs (medium, small and micro enterprises) – the Department of Labor and Employment estimates of newly jobless workers is 7 million – are no longer receiving incomes. National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) determined that 18 million families were in need of government fiscal support. To alleviate the plight of the unemployed workers and the small businesses, Congress has enacted two laws – Bayanihan I and Bayanihan II – to provide Social Amelioration Program (SAP) payments totaling close to P400 billion. Given the extent of the damage that the Philippine economy has sustained, most knowledgeable observers believe that the amount, which is the lowest among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, is not nearly adequate for the intended purpose.

As in other coronavirus-hit countries, there is an increasingly tense debate as to whether it is now sage to terminate the lockdown and start reopening the economy. And as in other countries where such a debate is on-going, it is the business community and political groups that are leading the clamor for a move from lockdown and toward economic reopening.

A crisis does not impact sectors of an economy in the same manner and to the same degree. Most sectors are either severely or substantially damaged, but a few manage to get away with only modest damage. A handful of sectors even thrive. Needless to say, the merit of economic sectors as good instrument options is being tested as to ability to cope with the pandemic that is ravaging the economy of this country. The better a sector has been able to cope, the better it is as an investment option.

A sector that has fared comparatively well during the current pandemic is the real estate sector. There have been declines in sales and some staff cuts, it is true, but no real estate developer has been in any danger of closing. Leechiu Property Consultants estimates around P66 billion reservation sales among the top 15 real estate developers during the ECQ period, with SM Development Corporation (SMDC) leading the pack with estimated sales of P32B, followed by Ayala Land with P11 billion.

SMDC managed to buck the tide by posting revenues totalling P23.7 billion in the first half of 2020, a figure 11 percent higher than the P21.4 billion of the same period last year.  The property giant has been launching projects continuously since July: Gem Residences in C5 Pasig, Gold Residences in Parañaque City, South 2 Residences in Las Piñas City and, very recently, Mint Residences in Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City.

The Philippine economy has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. Anxious to see the start of a recovery, the government has been gradually easing the conditions of the quarantine. There is agreement that 2020 can largely be written off but disagreement as to when the economy’s recovery can really begin. There is wide support for the belief that the earliest that the recovery can start to take place is the second quarter of 2021. What the economy needs is a sector that will act as a catalyst and lead the way to recovery. With the numerous major industries that land development involves – cement, steel, timber, paint, furniture and plastics – the real estate sector is ideal for that catalytic role.

And SMDC has proven this by aggressively launching projects. Fittingly, it has just been given the Best Developer Award at the recent 8th PropertyGuru Philippines Awards Ceremony.

Tags: ECQenhanced community quarantineGCQGDPgeneral community quarantinegross domestic productMECQmodified enhanced community quarantineRudy Romero
ADVERTISEMENT
Rudy Romero

Rudy Romero

Related Posts

FVR’s political horse to 1992 victory

byRudy Romero
August 23, 2022, 12:00 am
0
22
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

"I derive the greatest satisfaction from my having played a part, however small, in the election to office of the...

Read more

The biggest political party in PH history

byRudy Romero
June 15, 2022, 12:00 am
0
22
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

“Marcos and his handlers are well advised to concentrate not on his 17-million-vote winning margin but on Leni Robredo’s losing...

Read more

DepEd head must be a professional heavyweight

byRudy Romero
May 27, 2022, 12:20 am
0
10
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

"Real political will is required." As in past post-election scenarios, the minds of the Filipino people are focused on the...

Read more

National unity cannot be reaped if not sown

byRudy Romero
May 19, 2022, 12:10 am
0
10
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

"Let’s go back to the Bible." The Bible teaches Christians that one reaps what one sows. This piece of biblical...

Read more

The big question in anti-Marcos voters’ minds

byRudy Romero
May 12, 2022, 12:00 am
0
20
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

" Has VP Robredo been the victim of a one-two boxing-style combination? " The results of the first 2022 voter-preference...

Read more

12 men and women for the Senate

byRudy Romero
May 5, 2022, 12:10 am
0
10
Disaggregating the 2022 youth vote

"Sensible voters will shade their names on their ballots." In normal times, the election of 12 members of the upper...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Technology meets power: Lenovo partners with One Meralco Foundation
  • BOI endorses P50-billion telecom tower project
  • Power Mac Center spotlights music using Apple devices
  • Marketers ready to embrace AI: More than three-quarters in PH feel confident about using AI tools, finds LinkedIn
  • 9 experiences for a perfectly relaxing staycation
  • Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists
  • US sanctions China-based drug network over fentanyl
  • Marcos lifts rice price cap

Advertisement

Latest News

Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists

byAFP
October 4, 2023, 1:00 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

Port Sudan, Sudan - Paramilitary artillery that struck a mosque and other civilian buildings in the Sudanese capital killed 10...

Read more

US sanctions China-based drug network over fentanyl

byAFP
October 4, 2023, 12:00 pm
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

Washington, United States - The United States announced sanctions Tuesday on a China-based network for producing and distributing chemicals used...

Read more

Marcos lifts rice price cap

byCharles Dantes
October 4, 2023, 11:07 am
0
8
PhilHealth won’t pay P17 million ransom demand from hackers

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday announced the lifting of the rice price cap. This comes just a day after...

Read more

Meta plans to charge Europeans for ad free Facebook and Instagram: source

byAFP
October 4, 2023, 11:00 am
0
8
Facebook-parent Meta appeals UK ruling on Giphy tie-up

Washington, United States - Meta is proposing to offer European users a subscription-based version of Instagram and Facebook if they...

Read more

Marcos condoles with family of 3 fishermen killed in Masinloc accident

byManila Standard
October 4, 2023, 10:52 am
0
8
‘No Hunger’ push starts in Siargao

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday extended his condolences to the families of three Filipino fishermen who died in a...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
    • Young Life
  • Pets
  • Tech
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Cravings
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Agriculture
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App