Beaches are so 2015. Student rentals are where it’s at in 2016, says a business expert
Students take a university entrance test in the Philippines. Image credit: Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ (Flickr)
With a coastline that goes on forever, the Philippines easily puts forward its beaches and islands as obvious choices for property investments. However, a Filipino business expert from Qatar is recommending an entirely different avenue for investors.
Foreign investors should be aware of the archipelago’s mushrooming student populace, and the expansive rental market this gives way to, says Greg Loayon, chairman of Philippine Business Council – Qatar.
“In terms of rentability, it is easy to find a tenant because demand in this area is very high, particularly for Filipino parents who are working abroad,” Loayon told Gulf Times.
“These condominiums are packed in a short period. The experience is that within the first three months, these units are already occupied, giving investors immediate return of investments,” he said.
He noted that Singaporean investors have been purchasing several floors of condominiums in the Philippines and renting them out later to students.
International education is a growing business in the Philippines, where English is widely spoken and understood. A 2007 study showed that between 1998 and 2003, around 3,301 Americans were enrolled at Philippine universities and colleges, followed by South Koreans at 3,278.
South Korean students mostly travel to the Philippines to learn or refine their English skills. Americans, on the other hand, apply to finish medical school, since tuition rates in the Philippines are much more affordable than the US.
At least 1,530 students from South Korea acquired Philippine student visas to study at a higher education institution, a 2014 report by the Bureau of Immigration showed, as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The largest number of Middle Eastern students came from Iran, with 1,032 enrollees.
Yet investors from the Middle East are still “slowly waking up” to the opportunity of owning condominium units in the Philippines, Loayon observed, adding that investors from Qatar tend to look only at Europe.
Source : property-report.com
Read more…This little-known Philippine rental market is in high demand
