Philippines lifts 2010 economic growth figure

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines  has upgraded its record economic growth of last year to 7.6 percent from the 7.3 percent originally reported, President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday.

Economic managers had re-analyzed the data and concluded that their computation had been off by 0.3 percentage points, the Filipino leader said.

"I would like to break the news to you that Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima informed me yesterday that they had completed the computation of the economic growth last year," Aquino told a government forum.

"He said we made a mistake in saying the economy grew 7.3 (percent). The correct figure was a 7.6 (percent) increase."

The initial growth figure of 7.3 percent was already the fastest expansion for the Philippine economy since democracy was restored to the country in 1986.

The government said when releasing the initial data in January that one main reason for the record performance -- coming off growth of 0.9 percent in 2009 -- was the rest of the world recovering from the global financial crisis.

It also cited renewed investor confidence in the government after Aquino won a landslide election last year on the back of a campaign promise to fight widespread corruption.

Why Invest in Real Estate in the Philippines especially the OFW?

More and maore Overseas Filipino Workers are seeking a retirement with dignity around the world with a dream of rang to the Philippines for retirement. There are basically two real estate markets in the Philippines – one comprised of local buyers and sellers, and the one comprised of foreign and OFW buyers and sellers. It is this latter market that is poised for a boom.

There is a huge and growing OFW remittances that are seeking an investment vehicle to set up a retirement pension, yet only a handful of investment vehicles are available for them. The Philippines relatively inexpensive retirement destination where you can make your retirement dollar really stretch.

If  you're into Real estate investment, you expect the properties will give you good turn around in the future, then do start picking areas that are currently booming in the market such as Cavite, laguna, bulacan, and batangas, to name the few. Last year Palawan and Mindoro area are still unoccupies, but to date, most of the areas are converted into resorts and subdivisions.

Tagaytay and Baguio, both known for their cold climates, were popular back in the days for expats and tourists. To this day, it became more popular because of more resorts and hotel coming. It has maintained expat villages and communities. Owners of these lands and houses from time to time sell their properties to look for newer locations for newer adventures.

If you're lucky, you might spot one of that in the Philippines at the verge of a phenomenal future.

Overview of Economic Status of the Philippines.  

• The Philippine currency continues to be strong and resilient, fortified by the economic management of the current administration.·          
• We are on the verge of the biggest real estate boom in history, set to totally eclipse the 1997 Asian crisis, and fueled by money from Filipino Expatriates, foreign investment.
• Among the top priority infrastructure projects to be completed by 2011 are the LRT line 1 to NAIA, the P21-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, the P6.9-billion Subic Port development the P1.3-billion North Expressway-South Luzon Expressway connection via C-5 Project, and the Edsa Rehabilitation Project., Cavitex. ·          
• The Philippine Stock exchange hit a nine-year record in 2006, opened in 2007 some 30 percent higher, and continues to be strong.·          
• The Philippines has emerged a strong second to India in the global outsourcing market·    The Philippines is becoming a much preferred option as it has stronger cultural ties to the United States than India.·         
• Remittances from Filipino Expatriates have grown to over $1.2billion dollars a month!·        
•   A surging demand for real estate is expected to sustain a continued surging growth of the Property industry.

* consolidated article on real estate 2011.

Three Main Considerations in buying a house

Truth be told, there are many considerations to be made when buying a home in the Philippines, but these three below should receive the highest priority.

1. Location
As proven by last year's Ondoy flood, not every location in the Philippines is well worth your hard-earned money. If you noticed, there has been an onslaught of real estate ads on the net touting to be "flood free" which before, wasn't really the case when it comes to advertising your home. Although the flood last year may have washed away the dreams of these homeowners, it has also proven to be a wake up call to developers who have scaled up their efforts to keep their projects as "flood free" or "flood proof" as possible. Location is also important depending on what lifestyle you'd like to lead - for example, a family man will choose a house near a good school while the career-driven individual would prefer a high-rise condominium in the city near where the action is. Location of the property will also reveal the ease or difficulty of accessibility.

2. Budget
Do you have the budget to buy a house? First, make sure you do, because if you don't then it would be pretty useless at this point. If you don't have cash outright to buy, then think about applying for a housing loan either from a bank, financial institution, or one of the most popular ones in the Philippines, Pagibig. Determine how much you can afford. It's also important that if you are taking a loan, your mortgage debt should be less than 28% of your monthly income.

3. Know what you're getting into!
Get involved - many OFWs have had bad experiences of buying a property without seeing it and end up disappointed when they do see it (and have no recourse but to accept it since they've already paid for it), or rely on relatives to decide for them. From start to finish, be there every step of the way. Your participation will spell out the success of this real estate purchase.
One more thing - only citizens of the country can buy real estate property in the Philippines, except for condominiums with the condition that 60% of the occupants are Filipinos, and only 40% foreigners. What other considerations should Filipinos make when buying real estate properties? Do share!

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