Metro Manila leads as BPO location choice, plus additional headlines

For PropertyGuru’s real estate news roundup, in part two of the Santos Knight Frank report, Manila continues to assert its position as a leading destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. In other reports, India’s Data Centre Industry is all set for exponential growth, driven primarily by artificial intelligence and the nationwide rollout of 5G technology. Lastly, many Australians are finding it difficult to afford their rent or home loan repayments, adding to the number of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Manila is still a preferred location for the BPO sector: Santos Knight Frank survey (Part 2)

Manila continues to assert its position as a leading destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies as the third most affordable city in Asia Pacific for occupancy costs, according to Knight Frank’s Q3 2024 Office Highlights report.

Among Metro Manila’s prominent CBD areas, Taguig remains the preferred office choice, with a vacancy rate of 12.4 percent lower by 2 basis points compared to 1H of 2024. Additionally, green-certified buildings continue to see strong demand, with an average take-up of 87.27 percent compared to 82.39 percent from traditional office spaces, most notably in Makati and BGC.

This reflects occupiers’ growing preference for sustainable developments, even while commanding higher rates. Tenants increasingly recognize the benefits of reduced operational costs, improved employee well-being, and an enhanced corporate image, as highlighted in Santos Knight Frank’s The Collab Special Report.

The report additionally showed that adopting a more collaborative work design is the top choice among Philippine-based office locators who plan to change their office layout and design at 95 percent.

Further findings from The Collab Special Report reveal that 33 percent of occupiers still prefer Metro Manila as their primary location. As predicted even before the pandemic, emerging cities such as Metro Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Metro Clark are also gaining traction, offering alternative locations for businesses looking to expand outside the capital. This shift highlights the evolving preferences of tenants seeking opportunities across the country while maintaining Metro Manila as the primary hub of the office market.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

India’s Data Centre capacity to surge 66 percent by 2026 – JLL

India’s Data Centre (DC) Industry is all set for exponential growth, driven primarily by artificial intelligence (AI) and the nationwide rollout of 5G technology. According to JLL India, the DC industry is expected to add a staggering 604 MW capacity in the next two and a half years (H2 2024-2026). The growth is a testament to India’s emergence as a global hub for AI innovation and data centre development.

“India is rapidly establishing itself as a global centre for AI innovation and data centre growth. Hyperscalers are increasingly pursuing self-build projects in major data centre hubs, while operators are planning new campuses powered by 400 kVA lines to support AI clusters. Navi Mumbai, a satellite city near Mumbai, is emerging as a key data centre location, with potential demand expected to reach 800 MW in the next few years. The push for AI-ready infrastructure, combined with the transformative influence of 5G, is revolutionising India’s digital ecosystem and positioning the country as a leader in technological advancements,” said Rachit Mohan, APAC Lead – Data Centre Leasing, JLL, as mentioned in RETalk Asia.

In the first half of 2024 (January-June), the DC industry already reached a capacity of 917 MW with an impressive 873 MW occupancy, indicating extremely tight market conditions.

Over the past four and a half years (2019-H1 2024), the sector has expanded 2.5 times, growing at a remarkable 24% CAGR. Significant government initiatives, including the approval of a USD 1.24 billion investment in AI infrastructure, are expected to fuel the growth further. Additionally, 5G network coverage is estimated to have reached over 90% of India’s population by the end of 2023.

Alarming figures show how the cost-of-living and rental crisis’ are increasing homelessness in Australia

It is becoming increasingly difficult for many Australians to afford their rent or home loan repayments, contributing to the rising number of people who are either homeless or at risk of homelessness, PropTrack reports.

New modelling from Impact Economics and Policy, a group of expert economists and policy specialists, estimates that in 2022, as many as 3.2 million people were at risk of homelessness across the country, where one negative shock could result in them losing their homes. This represents a 63 percent increase between 2016 and 2022 in the number of Australians at risk of homelessness.

It also estimates that the number of households across Australia experiencing rental stress has increased by 141,000—or 17.9 percent—since the 2021 Census. Rental stress is defined as households in the bottom 40 percent of income who pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].