THE pandemic remains a challenge for a lot of industries and businesses globally, which resulted in a heavy toll on many economies.

In the Philippines, however, real estate ranks as the top contributor to the economy, as property developers managed to adapt to the new normal.

It is believed that the Philippine real estate industry will recover this year.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said that activity in the

real estate market will recover in line with a rebound in overall economic growth in 2022.

There has been an increase in demand for high-end residences located in towns during the pandemic in the Philippines.

At the same time, potential investors and home buyers wanted to pandemic-proof their properties and investments.

More and more people chose to live in locations near town to ensure easy access to drugstores, schools, offices, hospitals, supermarkets, recreational areas and other establishments.

The move was seen lowering possible exposure to Covid-19.

Numerous new trends and innovations are also seen showing the trust of investors and developers in the national and local real estate markets even under the pandemic.

Emma Imperial, Imperial Homes president and chief executive officer, said there has been rapid adoption of proptech along with green agenda in business.

Proptech recalibrated the real estate industry toward advancement, creating more modern, more apt and even more efficient systems.

The statistics on how proptech was eyed to boost the industry, has been compelling.

Among millennials, 99 percent began their home search online to save time.

Property hunters used social media handles to learn about the latest property developers and their projects and the facilities and infrastructure of a building or society.

Among home buyers, 76 percent used a mobile or tablet search device in their home search; millennials used mobile devices — nearly twice as often as the silent generation.

Among realtors, 95 percent used email daily and 57 percent used social media apps daily.

While inventory and affordability came to centerstage this past year, keeping up with technology was seen as a challenge to 41 percent of firms.

While the Philippines’ real estate industry believes that the sector will always be a rising opportunity to diversify investment for both developers and end-consumers after last year’s growth of the sector amid the pandemic, there remains a challenge on how exactly the government and the private sector will sustain the sector’s revenues and increase its contribution to the national economy.

Addressing these issues and resolving them in the best way possible will be the focus of The Manila Times Online Business Forum titled “State of the Art in Real Estate” on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, 10 a.m.

Blanca Mercado, The Manila

Times president, said the forum will highlight how real estate was able to adapt to rapid adMonday vances in technology.

“Real Estate is still the most reliable investment regardless of the current pandemic condition,” she added.

The online business forum will be livestreamed on The Times Facebook, YouTube and Dailymotion accounts.

Lead discussants will be Sheila Lobien, chief executive officer of Lobien Realty Group, and AJ Rocero, executive director of PropTech Consortium of the Philippines Inc.

The forum will be moderated by TMT Build and Design editor Aaron Ronquillo and TMT editor Dafort Villaseran.