Condominium rental prices lowest in 15 years: expert
MANILA — A property specialist on Monday urged Filipinos to take advantage of falling condominium rent prices this 2025 amid an oversupply crisis in Metro Manila.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) CEO David Leechiu said rental rates for mid-market condo units have already dropped to their lowest in about 15 years.
He expects this downward trend to continue this year, particularly in the Manila Bay area, Alabang, and Makati where the exit of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) have resulted in a lot of vacancies.
Leechiu also noted that renting is more preferrable than buying, even if recent data by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) report also showed a decline in housing prices, including condo units, in the National Capital Region.
“Yung bagsak ng presyo sa rental prices is so big compared to the capital values. If you want to buy units right now, the discounts are probably 10, 20, 30 percent of the purchase price. The rents are discounted at 50 to 60 percent,” said Leechiu.
He said renting allows people, particularly those in the middle class, to save more money which they could invest in something else.
“Ang tawag doon is free capital. The money you could’ve put buying and borrowing money, you could use that to grow a business or invest in the stock market,” he said.
Apart from money, Leechiu added that it would also save a lot more time, especially if people are able to find a unit that is closer to where they work or where they study.
“Instead of you staying 2 to 3 hours a day, 4 hours a day in traffic, you can do much more. You can spend more time with your children, you can spend more time with your loved ones, you can spend more time with your girlfriend and boyfriend, you can work out, you can sleep in… You can do many things for yourself instead of sitting in traffic,” he said.
According to LPC’s estimate, it would take 34 months or about three years before the current supply of condo units is taken up.
While some are more pessimistic and projecting that it would take longer, Leechiu said the oversupply issue is “temporary” and is “a very simple problem to solve”.
He said there are also no signs that developers or unit owners are distressed.
“Hindi siya structural, fundamental crisis. We just built too much residential space as we also did in the office space. But parang baha yan e. Over time, bababa yung tubig,” he said.
“Ang distressed situation is banks are closing, companies are closing and because of this massive event, nag-aalisin yung mga tao, nagkakaroon ng massive unemployment and then magkakaroon ng 50 percent, 60 percent off sa presyo. But you’re not seeing that eh,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael Ricafort believes the string of interest rate cuts by the BSP would also help boost demand for the property sector.
“Bababa yung borrowing cost, mas mae-engganyo lalo na humiram yung mga tao para bumili ng mga bahay— mapa-condo yan, mapa-house and lot, or single detached or town house,” said Ricafort.
He also does not see too long of a lag time for these rate cuts to take effect.
“Yung pricing ng mga loans, competitive yan eh. Pagka nagcut ng rates yung central bank, sunod kagad yung mga bangko,” he said.
As it is, Ricafort said there has already been a healthy correction in home prices, especially for condo units in Metro Manila.
“From 2016 to 2020, masyadong malaki rin yung price appreciation ng mga property lalo na when the time na dumami yung POGO. At some point, umabot yan ng 300,000 POGO expats. Nag-pullout sila, so yung supply dumami, yung mga iniwanan nila, so bumaba yung presyo, rental rates,” he said.
But Ricafort also acknowledged that even with the correction, these condo units— particularly those in prime locations, may still not be affordable for many Filipinos.
“Halimbawa, kung yung ibang mga expat naman sa ibang industriya other than POGO, yung mga sa multinational companies, yung mga nagreretire dito, yung ibang foreign investors, sila yung maaaring magtake up noon… Pero yung mga sa Filipinos, siyempre e hindi naman sila pwedeng makipagsabayan doon,” he said.
