July 23, 2025
The business-process outsourcing (BPO) and co-working spaces remain the main drivers of the office segment in the country’s property sector.
In their first half 2025 outlook, Lobien Realty Group chief executive officer Sheila Lobien said the high demand for such spaces ensures business continuity to several companies operating in the Philippines.
“Now, as mentioned, as of last year, the outsourcing industry was able to reach 1.8 million full time employees already, and that was their target for 2028 but it already achieved the goal in 2024. So in terms of the number of people that they’re hiring, the country’s growth is really doing well. Revenue wise, they can probably reach the $40 billion level, you know, $38 billion or $48 billion three years from now,” Lobien pointed out
“But if the country continues to grow at that level, say, 100,000 Filipinos more every year, then we can easily reach the baseline scenario of 2.1 million Filipinos in three years’ time, and that can easily translate to about a million square meters of office space,” Lobien added.
Lobien hopes that the growth momentum will continue so developers and landlords can look forward to more growth in the two markets. With only 1.1 million square miles of vacant offices in the market right now, Lobien said developers and landlords have to step in to cope with the rising demand.
“The co-working space market is actually growing, because right now, many companies are decentralizing their office operations instead of putting it in one big area,” she said.
Lobien warned there would be a shortage problem and it will be hard to manage that just like the situation experienced by the sector during the pandemic.
If the trend continues to grow, Lobien said it can wipe out all the vacant offices that we have all over the Philippines.”
She said the outsourcing industry was able to reach 1.8 million full time employees in 2024-originally the target for 2028. She added that there is a growth trend in the economy. Revenue wise, they can probably reach this $38 billion or $48 billion three years from now.
A buyer’s market
Lobien said the residential market is currently a buyer’s market. “It’s a good time to buy, because all developers are giving this a lot of discounts,” said Lobien.
Despite the oversupply of condominium units, she said there is still a brisk movement as a lot of developers are focusing on the signal detached bones, condominiums. Moreover, Lobien said developers are trying to slow down the development or construction and focusing on high end projects or mid range to high end projects right now. “And as you can see, many developers also are focusing on Fort Bonifacio Bay Area, Makati and Ortigas,” she said.
Currently, the sweet spot is still in the one bedroom and two bedroom condominium market because these are the affordable sizes for many Filipinos.
Despite the huge inventory of condominium units, property prices remain resilient. Based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas real estate data, the bulk of Filipinos are taking loans from the banks, and many of them are buying condominiums in the National Capital Region area. Meanwhile, house and lot units are much in demand in the Cavite, Laguna Batangas and Quezon area (Calabarzon). “The remittances of the overseas Filipino workers [OFWs] are fueling the demand in the residential sector,” she said.
Gov’t infra project to drive demand in provincial areas
Jericho Linao, LRG chief operating officer, said in his presentation that as of the second quarter of 2025, the vacancy rate of the office market in the provincial areas are still pegged at 30 percent while lease rates remain at 7 percent which resulted in locators preferring the National Capital Region. Nevertheless, Linao said the highly anticipated completion of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network will entice locators to move outside the metropolis.
“Average office market rental rates barely increased to P565 per sqm 2Q 2025 against last year’s P550/sqm. The minimal increase can be attributed to the rise of rental rates of solid provincial locations with improving office markets like Cebu [from P570/sq m to P635/sq m], Iloilo [P585/sq m to P610 sq m], and Cavite [from P500/sq m to P600/sq m].
Warehousing to achieve growth in 2025
LRG associate director Stephanie Ng said Philippine warehousing market size is expected to reach $447 million by year end 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 54.2 percent. The market is expected to reach $680 million by 2033. Growth drivers are manufacturing, logistics, and e-commerce industries.
Ng said Calabarzon remains a top location for industrial real estate, but the supply extends even further to Pangasinan, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.
Finally, Lobien said expected reductions in policy interest rate until the end of 2025 will help in making the right timing for the decision for residential buyers and investors, including office locators.
Read article: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/07/23/bpos-co-working-spaces-continue-to-drive-growth-in-office-market/
COMMERCIAL and office space specialist and full-service property strategy firm Lobien Realty Group Inc. recently inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with manufacturing, distributing and marketing global giant Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp. in order to support businesses that wished to scale their growth and digitize their operations in an efficient manner.
Cebu Island—composed of Cebu province and the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue—solidified its claim as one of the major economic powerhouses of the Philippines when it first breached P1 trillion in economic value or gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
This trajectory was maintained in 2024 when Central Visayas registered a 7.3 percent GDP growth, the fastest growing regional economy in the Philippines.
In its recent annual mid-year briefing, Lobien Realty Group (LRG) discussed the market outlook and updated data in the real estate industry on July 9, 2025, at Spaces in World Plaza, BCG.
Vacancy rates remain high in the office sectors in both the National Capital Region and the provinces. The residential condominium market in Metro Manila is currently “a buyer’s market”. Meanwhile, warehousing industry in the country is robust and continues to grow. These were the highlights of the 2025 mid-year report on the real-estate industry presented by leading real estate property provider Lobien Realty Group, Inc (LRG). on July 9.
Lobien Realty Group is the No. 1 Realty Property Provider in the Philippines. We provide office and commercial spaces, lots and properties for sale/lease in the cities of Makati, Taguig, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Quezon, and Caloocan.