The Philippines and Vietnam were the strongest performing real estate markets in Southeast Asia in 2015, according to industry magazine Property Report. The magazine said the Philippine real estate industry remained a solid performer mainly due to a strong business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. 

“The Philippines has continued to be a solid performer and although analysts are predicting a slight slowdown in growth, they see plenty to be positive about, especially in an office market, likely to be the beneficiary of a thriving BPO sector,” said the magazine.

Cushman and Wakefield managing director for Asia Pacific Sigrid Zialcita added that the country’s BPO sector continues to be a main driver of economic growth. A stable political environment, large pool of young and educated talent, and improving economic management make the country attractive to BPO locators and investors. Zialcita expects the BPO sector to continue expanding in the next five years to support high occupancies and long-term, moderate rental growth of more than 5 percent.

Jones Lang Lasalle managing director for Singapore and Southeast Asia Chris Fossick was similarly optimistic, saying that Vietnam and the Philippines are two countries that investors are most confident about because of potential opportunities. Fossick agreed that the BPO sector is still the biggest driver of the Philippine property sector. However, the decision to invest ultimately depends on the ability of the economy to grow in 2016 and opportunities that arise from this growth. 

The country’s BPO industry currently employs about one million full-time workers, accounting for 2.3 percent of the overall employment in the Philippines. The industry expects to generate $25 billion in revenues and employ 1.3 million direct workers in 2016.