There is a strong interest in real estate from Europe and the Middle East. More and more, the markets are viewing Philippine real estate as a viable investment, with the industry remaining buoyant despite the global economic challenges.

Rex A. Mendoza, Ayala Land senior vice president and head of Corporate Marketing and Sales Group, provides this assessment coming fresh from Ayala Land property road shows in Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Jeddah and Riyadh. “With the US being a challenged market and having been burned out from bad investments, a deliberate shift was taken by Ayala Land which started exploring other markets” Mendoza explains.

In entering these continents, he was heartened by the candidness of overseas Filipinos (OF’s) in expressing their desire to learn how to manage their funds wisely. “For many of our OF’s, remittances are sent back home to the Philippines to improve the lives of their family. They’re usually spent on education and buying home appliances or improving lifestyles. However, not much is left as savings to build their dream home or build up investments, even for retirement” says Mendoza.

With that, Mendoza willingly conducted wealth management talks among OF’s in these continents. “Our fellow countrymen are not only interested in acquiring good homes in well-planned communities, they also seek to be more finance-savvy and shift from being mere spenders to becoming wealth managers. They were happy to learn the concept of forced savings in order to build their dreams and confirm real estate as a safe and viable investment for their hard-earned money” states Mendoza.