This event will highlight developments that are set to position this culturally rich region into an economic powerhouse
CLARK, PAMPANGA, August 20, 2024 – Leading diversified professional services and investment management company Colliers (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) holds a briefing on the property market of Central Luzon. Organized in partnership with Filinvest Mimosa Plus, Golf Ridge Private Estate by Filigree, Quest Plus Conference Center Clark, Mimosa Plus Golf Course, Chroma Hospitality Inc., and Filinvest New Clark City, this event will look into the exciting real estate sector of Central Luzon, particularly the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, and Tarlac.
According to Joey Roi Bondoc, Colliers Director and Head of Research, as the Philippine economy expands, the need for more economic growth corridors outside of Metro Manila emerges, and one of these growth corridors is Central Luzon, which is shaping to become a major economic center.
“The region greatly benefits from the national government’s massive infrastructure push and decentralization thrust, which can clearly be seen from property firms’ aggressive land-banking and development initiatives in the region.”
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that Central Luzon is one of only five Philippine regions that posted growths in the first quarter faster of 2024 than the national level. In addition, the region is the third biggest contributor to the Services and Industry sectors in 2023 (behind NCR and CALABARZON) and the biggest contributor among all 17 Philippine regions to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector.
Pampanga, for instance, is ripe for more property development projects and this is already evident given the entry of national developers launching massive vertical and integrated communities here like Filinvest’s Leisure City, Filinvest Mimosa Plus. The completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects in the next 12 to 48 months, such as the NLEX–SLEX Connector, Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX), and Manila Clark Railway, should also partly lift land values and property prices in the province, said Bondoc.
Of the 122,000 square meters of office transactions recorded by Colliers in the first half of 2024, 36,000 square meters were in Pampanga, which is second only to Cebu’s 46,000 square meters. Aside from office, Pampanga is also ready for more industrial park developments. Data collated by Colliers show that 20 percent of new industrial supply from 2024 to 2026 will be in Pampanga.
Bulacan is also one of the Central Luzon provinces whose property landscape is likely to drastically change, especially once the New Manila International Airport becomes operational. This ambitious project should raise land and property prices in the province and further unlock the potential of its underutilized areas for more property development, said Bondoc.
“Bulacan’s attractiveness for office, residential, retail, and hotel projects as well as more masterplanned communities is ready to be unleashed.”
Another exciting infrastructure project that should strengthen Bulacan’s stature as a major residential hub is Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), which is a 22-kilometer commuter rail line that aims to cut travel time from Quezon City to Bulacan’s San Jose del Monte City from two to three hours to just 35 minutes.
According to Colliers, more aggressive landbanking initiatives in Bulacan are taking place as developers take advantage of the locale’s major public projects. This should set the stage for greater acquisition of parcels of developable land in the province and the eventual launch and development of more masterplanned communities.
On the other hand, Tarlac like its Central Luzon neighbors is also quickly emerging as a vital investment and industrial hub. Its strategic location right at the heartland of Luzon helps this historic province grow into one of the thriving locales in the country today, and its very location puts Tarlac right along the path of major expressways and national highways, most notably the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX), and the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX).
Tarlac is now seeing its real estate sector steadily accelerated, thanks to a number of masterplanned projects currently underway, including Filinvest New Clark City, a 288-hectare community in Capas. Situated inside the massive 9,450-hectare New Clark City development of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), first phase of Filinvest New Clark City is an industrial project dubbed Filinvest Innovation Park (FIP). Launched in the last quarter of 2023, FIP aims to provide an ideal environment for logistics, e-commerce, and light manufacturing firms that will contribute to Tarlac’s local economy.
