Here’s great news! As a treat to the followers of my site, I am giving away 10 FREE spots to the Financial Fitness Forum 2015 this March 28, 2015 at SMX Aura. This event features the luminaries of the Registered Financial Planner Institute like Efren Cruz, Salve Duplito, Marvin Germo, Edric Mendoza, Malaya Laraya and many more!

Joining is easy, follow the instructions below!

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For more details about the event, visit http://financialfitnessforum.org/ 

Affordability is top of mind for Filipinos who choose not to buy property, with more than 60 percent of renters in a recent survey of online house-hunters citing cost constraints as the primary reason they leased their home.

The findings are contained in new research from global property website Lamudi, which has recently released its first report on real estate in the emerging markets. The report, Real Estate in the Emerging Markets, provides a comprehensive overview of the property sector in 16 emerging countries, including the Philippines.

The report is based on a series of online surveys conducted with house-hunters and real estate agents in each country, as well as onsite data from Lamudi’s global network of websites. The research examines the habits of online property-seekers, while offering insights into the future of the property sector based on interviews and surveys with local property experts.

The customer survey examined house-hunting habits among buyers and renters. For renters, affordability emerged as the key reason why many Filipinos choose not to buy their own home. More than 60 percent of renters surveyed said they could not afford to buy property. For buyers, the main driver for owning property is security. Nearly three-quarters of buyers cited security as their primary motivation for purchasing a home.

According to the survey of real estate agents, the country’s economic outlook is seen as the top constraint on the property market, reflecting current concerns about a potential slowdown. However, agents and brokers remain overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of the market. More than 90 percent describe their outlook for the next 12 months as positive.

Lamudi’s Global Co-Founder and Managing Director, Kian Moini, said: “The primary conclusion that we have drawn from our research is that the future for the Philippine property sector is extremely bright. In fact, two-thirds of the real estate agents we surveyed are expecting growth of eight percent or higher in the property market this year. The country’s real estate market has emerged as one of the most promising in the Asia Pacific region.”

The report features a series of in-depth interviews with key figures from the property industry of each country, including Jose Romarx Salas, Head of Research and Consulting at Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services. Mr Salas said the key challenge for the Philippine property market was finding enough land to accommodate development. “In Metro Manila, that’s the challenge: looking for suitable land. Some developers are even willing to bid high, which pushes up already skyrocketing land prices in the capital,” he told Lamudi.

The 16 countries covered in the report are: Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Colombia.

The full report is presented in an easy-to-read online format, available for viewing here.

ABOUT LAMUDI

Launched in 2013, Lamudi is a global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets. The fast-growing platform is currently available in 28 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with more than 700,000 real estate listings across its global network. The leading real estate marketplace offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a secure and easy to-use platform to find or list properties online.

Aside from the main event, Money Talks UAE on March 20, 2015, I will be conducting Retirement & Estate Planning seminars in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as well.

Retirement Planning 

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to prepare a comprehensive retirement plan that is suited for you and a plan that really works. Find out how you can truly live a life of comfort & learn about the proper investments that is best suited for your needs objectively

Estate Planning

Learn how to properly transfer your assets in a cost-efficient manner. Estate planning is a good tool to minimize, if not eliminate uncertainties in the proper distribution of your estate. Estate planning will help you have peace of mind that you will indeed leave a lasting legacy

Retirement Planning, Abu Dhabi – March 13, 2015; 9am to 12noon. Register HERE

Retirement Planning, Dubai – March 14; 2 to 5pm.Register HERE

Estate Planning, Dubai – March 14, 6 to 9pm.Register HERE

You may also send an email to dubaifinancialevents@gmail.com  for inquiries. Limited slots only.

Money Talks UAE on March 20, 2015 HERE