What Properties OFWs are Searching for Online

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Global real estate website Lamudi studied the online property-seeking behavior of OFWs

Undeniably, one of the biggest contributors to the Philippines’ booming economy is the remittance coming from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Their hard work and sacrifice to be far away from home and from their loved ones have helped keep the country’s economy afloat despite global economic uncertainties.

According to Michael McCullough, managing director of local Savills associate KMC MAG Group, owning a home is a cultural achievement that is very important to all Filipinos—a state of mind that every Filipino, especially those working abroad, harbors and one of the factors that have been driving the local housing market.

In recognition of the hard work of OFWs in providing for their families left behind in the Philippines, global real estate portal Lamudi is making online real estate hunting easy and uncomplicated. With approximately 70,000 property listings online and close to 800,000 users every month (as of May 2017), Lamudi’s onsite data are shedding some light how Filipinos, particularly OFWs, behave while looking for properties online.

Online Search Behavior

Close to 5 million users visited the Lamudi website in 2016, as of these users, close to 25 percent are based overseas. The top 10 countries where overseas traffic coming to Lamudi.com.ph are the following:

●     The United States leads the pack, with 6 percent of all users in 2016 came from. This figure corresponds to close to 300,000 website users for the entire year.

●     The United Arab Emirates came in second, corresponding to about 2 percent of all users who visited the website in 2016, which is about 95,000.

●     These two countries were followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Qatar—countries where there are sizeable Filipino communities.

House and lot came out as the most searched property types for all these 10 countries (equivalent to 61.29 percent of all searches), followed by condominium (18.11 percent) and land (15.08 percent). Commercial properties and apartments corresponded to 3.65 and 1.87 percent of all searches in 2016, respectively.

Top Cities Explored by OFWs

In terms of preferred destinations by Filipinos working abroad, Lamudi found out that the top 10 most searched cities include Quezon City, Cebu, Makati, Davao, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Tagaytay, Pasig, Taguig, and Baguio, respectively. The prevailing reasons why these locations emerged at the top may vary, but it can be safe to say that some OFWs buy to get a permanent residence for their families left behind, while others are looking for areas that can be allocated to family members (e.g., college-bound students) in the metro. Likewise, many might also be looking to buy with the intention of having a retirement property in the future (hence, the presence of touristy areas in the top 10 such as Cebu, Tagaytay, and Baguio).

Lamudi Affordable Housing Fair

Apart from harnessing technology, Lamudi is also reaching out to house-hunters through events such as the upcoming showcase of value-for-money properties at the Lamudi Affordable Housing Fair, slated to happen on July 15 and 16 at Glorietta 3 Activity Center in Makati City.

Through the fair, OFW home-seekers can send their families in the Philippines to check out and avail of property discounts offered by developers during the event. The investment process will also be guided as home-buying seminars and other real estate–related forums will be held on the two-day event.

Key national agencies such as the Social Security System (SSS) and Pag-IBIG Fund will also be present at the fair to highlight various programs and benefits that every Filipino can take advantage of. The fair will also feature an auction of foreclosed properties, which is another way to secure a reasonably priced property.

The first Lamudi Housing Fair was a three-day-event successfully held November of last year and was attended by more than five thousand visitors. To know more about the Lamudi Affordable Housing Fair, visit http://www.lamudi.com.ph/events

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