Wazzup Pilipinas!
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
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
