Manila, the 4th most preferred city for surveys in Asia Pacific – ULI and PwC report

A new survey by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed real estate  in the capital region is one of the “best bets” for investors to get into this year.

The ULI and PwC report, called “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2014,” Manila ranked fourth out of 23 city clusters in Asia and the Pacific in terms of investment prospects.

John Fitzgerald, chief executive for Asia Pacific at ULI, said “The Philippines is a big mover in terms of sentiment this year, drawing a lot of mention in our surveys for the report and emerging as one of the most preferred among all emerging economies this year.”

Stated at the report, there was “an ongoing willingness to look at emerging markets, Indonesia and the Philippines in particular, as alternatives to other more traditionally favored markets.”

The 'Favored markets', Tokyo topped the list, followed by Shanghai and Jakarta. Sydney rounded out the Top 5. Hong Kong ranked 18th, Ho Chi Minh City at 19th, Bangalore at 20th, New Delhi at 21st, Chennai at 22nd, and Mumbai at 23rd.

For Manila, this ranking is a record eight-notch leap from its 2013 spot.

The ranking under the Emerging Trends City Investment Prospects are as follows:

Tokyo

Shanghai

Jakarta

Manila

Sydney

Guangzhou

Singapore

Beijing

Osaka

Shenzhen

Bangkok

China's secondary cities

Melbourne

Kuala Lumpur

Seoul

Taipei

Auckland

Hong Kong

Ho Chi Minh

Bangalore

New Delhi

Chennai

Mumbai

The report tagged Manila as one of the respondents' “best bet,” putting a “top buy” tag for the residential, office and retail segments.