THE residential market may soften this year as companies adjust prices upwards to factor in the rise in rates since last year, according to Leechiu Property Consultants.
At the same time, he said banks have also started to stretch out their lending terms to borrowers, offering terms of 20 years instead of the usual 15 years for long-term lending, in a move to help mitigate for buyers the higher pricing. Eleven new towers were launched for the period, equivalent to 4,931 units in the supply pipeline in the first quarter.
“And just like what Senator Chiz Escudero was saying, that the plus side about the POGO sector is that it addresses the gambling sector without tapping into the local market. Unlike the local casinos where 70 percent of the market of all the brick and mortar casinos are catering to local gamblers,” he said.
The bulk of the take-up was from traditional office users, at 144,000 square meters, with the government and serviced offices among the leading contributors to the increase in demand.