PropertyGuru held its inaugural emerging markets property show on 10 and 11 October with a strong turnout and keen investor interest.
By Adam Rahman
Investment prospects for properties in emerging markets such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and The Philippines have lower barrier to entry while providing healthy financial returns. In some cases, returns have surpassed even those in established markets. With demand expected to continue within the next five years, coupled with confidence in these countries’ economic growth, these markets can open the doors for new opportunities for investors.
Tapping into this ebullience amongst investors, PropertyGuru launched its first Emerging Markets Property Show on 10th and 11th October at Orchard Hotel, showcasing over twenty projects from seven renowned developers across the region – Alveo Land, Ananda Development, AP (Thailand), ECG Property, Property Perfect, Robinsons Land Corporation and VinaCapital. The event proved to be highly popular, drawing in over 400 visitors and more than SGD 1.83 million in transactions during the two day period, illustrating the growing appetite amongst Singaporean investors to cast their nets further to capitalise on South-East Asia’s real estate potential.
Developers, too, stood to gain, managing to secure 190 leads. “Participating in the show offered a good opportunity to get connected to quality investors while at the same time, provided a platform for us to introduce our brand and the diverse range of properties we have from our home country,” said Guara Marie D. Apostol, a sales consultant from Ayala Land International.
The event was also the first time that Vietnamese properties were exhibited to Singaporean buyers to allow interested buyers to understand more about the market. This comes after new laws relaxing foreign housing ownership came into effect in Vietnam on 1 July this year.
The Vietnamese property market has shed much of its tumultuous past, seeing recovery in recent months, reflected in the high volume of transactions in the condominium market. According to a recent CBRE Vietnam report, Q2 2015 marked a new record with over 10,000 units sold for both new and previous launches. Even though it is still too early to predict capital gains, investors are predicted to enjoy a rental yield of 8 percent in some high-end projects with good locations around Ho Chi Minh City, as opposed to 3 percent in Singapore.
“Capital is very much in Asian real estate in 2015. It is heartening to know that Singaporeans are keeping a real keen eye on properties in the region. PropertyGuru is driven by the desire to help property seekers make better property decisions, and that is the basis for us to introduce the Emerging Markets Property Show for prospective buyers looking beyond Singapore to expand their investment portfolio.” said Steve Melhuish, Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru Group.
For more information about our future property shows, go to: www.pgevents.propertyguru.com.sg
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This article was first published in the print version The PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDF of full print issues or read more stories now. | ||