ASEAN Integration: Real Estate Practitioner PerspectiveBy: Gus Agosto, REB, REA

What is the view of the real estate practitioners on ASEAN Integration? The integration will bring both opportunities and challenges to the 28,869 licensed real estate practitioners in the country. It means bigger market and area for business, exposure to different practices and culture, marketing strategies and plans. It should help in easing the problems besetting the practitioners for several decades.

ASEAN is composed of 10 countries—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It has a vast economic market of 600 million people, which accounts for at least 8 percent of the global population, spread across 4.6 million square meters of prime real estate.

The integration will result in stronger capital inflow and investments, particularly in real estate industry. More industry players also mean increased rate of construction activities where we will be seeing mixed-use residential districts, retail, commercial and office hubs, and key infrastructures—airports, sea ports and many others more—racing to dot the skyline all at the same time.

We will also see more emerging economic hotspots in various parts of the country, particularly in Mindanao—a region deemed as the Philippines’s gateway to the rest of Southeast Asia. Small and new players will venture other markets in provinces.

The free flow of goods and services will result in much higher rate of consumer spending. This will then drive the development of more lifestyle-centric developments, such as malls, retail complexes and properties anchored on tourism, across the archipelago.

This will activate other industries in our country that will result in job creation and lessening new entrants and “part-timers” in real estate.

With ASEAN, foreign and local developers will rely on local practitioners to market their properties and in exploring more properties in our country. We will be seeing in the coming years of different realty business thriving, forging alliances and cooperation in different levels.This will play a significant role in fueling a stronger exchange of best industry practices and ideas among practitioners of ASEAN participants.

The above indicators should excite every real estate practitioner rather than fretfulness in the competition that it will bring. It will push authorities in resolving the deadlock in the accredited and integrated professional organization issue and strict implementation of Real Estate Service Act (RESA) on the proliferation of “colurums” in the industry. It means of redrawing our business plans, strategies and sharpening of our skills and brand of service.

The inevitable entry of foreign practitioners demands a new and higher level of capabilities, quality service, stronger real estate organizations and cooperation to safeguard the common interest of practitioners. The best preparation is to prepare ourselves, and it should start…Now!

The writer is a practicing real estate broker and appraiser. He is an AB Economics graduate and recently completed the Comprehensive Seminar and Review for Consultants. He is currently the president of Cebu South Real Estate Board, a local board under Philippine Association of Real Estate Brokers.