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Real estate sales growth highest among other sectors in 2Q

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/30/2008 6:30 PM

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Government’s statisticians reported that real estate companies posted the highest sales growth during the second quarter of 2008.

"Real Estate posted the fastest growth at 27.2 percent, boosted by increased sales from real estate projects and higher income from renting and leasing operations of supermalls and shopping centers all over the country," said Romulo Virola, secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board’s (NSCB).

NSCB regularly tracks the country’s largest companies and their production volume, gross revenues, compensation, and employment through an index that guides those who analyze the economy based on current economic behavior and events

The total index on gross revenue of all industries covered by NSCB’s survey rose 15 percent in the second quarter of 2008, faster than a growth of 10.3 percent registered a year ago. 

Other sectors also posted revenue growth, but at levels below that of the real estate sector. Trades sector posted revenue growth of 16.1 percent, owing to robust sales of petroleum and pharmaceutical products, while the manufacturing sector increased its revenues by 15.2 percent, on the back of increased output of food products.

Average employment index, however, fell by 1.3 percent, a turnaround from a positive growth of 0.9 percent a year ago. 

NSCB statistician Maria Fe M. Talento, who helped prepare the report, said high gasoline prices encouraged middle-class Filipinos to buy condominium units at areas near their work place, thereby boosting the sales of condo developers in Metro Manila.

Subdivision projects in the provinces such as those located in Laguna and Cavite were the choice of overseas Filipino workers, Talento said.

Operational leasing, or the revenues generated by commercial space developers such as the SM group, also bolstered the real estate sector, as more projects came online, she added.

Talento noted that the SM group reported an average occupancy rate of 94 percent among its more than 30 shopping malls.

Meanwhile, the growth of the business process outsourcing sector boosted demand for office space in Makati, Ortigas and new commercial business districts such as the Bonifacio Global City, Eastwood, and Alabang.

Despite robust sales, however, the real estate sector managed to grow its employment index by only 1.4 percent in the quarter.

as of 10/30/2008 6:30 PM