MANILA, Philippines - As the Philippine real estate market attracts more foreign interest, a Southeast Asian magazine focusing on luxury real estate, architecture and design has been launched in the country. Property Report magazine, which is part of Singapore-based Ensign Media, was launched on Wednesday. The magazine is coming to the country through advertising sales representation and distribution with ABS-CBN Publishing Inc. ABS-CBN Publishing managing director Mark Yambot said this partnership is very timely, given the strong performance of the Philippine real estate market. "First, the Philippine real estate market's growth has been unprecedented in the last few years... Second, is the increased demand on a regional basis. We believe there's an incremental growth opportunity for local developers from buyers from Southeast Asia... There's an increase in property investments among the affluent in the region. Given this regional demand, there is value in a magazine that can show the best in the Philippines," Yambot said during the launch event. Property Report offers market analysis, interviews with developers, project profiles and architecture and interior design trends. It was established in Thailand in 2004 and has branched out to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Macau. Terry Blackburn, Ensign Media CEO, noted that the Philippines is one of the most exciting real estate markets in Asia. A recent Urban Land Institute survey showed Manila was the hottest real estate investment destination in the region. "The quality of the developments here have become world-class... The Zuellig building, an award winner at the Philippine Property Awards, stands out for quality, a match not just in Asia but in the world," he said in a separate interview on Mornings@ANC. Jules Kay, publisher of Property Report, said the Philippine real estate market is in some ways ahead of other emerging markets such as Thailand and Malaysia. "The Philippines in some ways is ahead of the some of the emerging markets, in terms of real estate. You have a lot of projects here that have a lot of built-in environmental features. It's something that has taken a long time to get a hold in Southeast Asia. The Philippines is leading the way with that," Kay said. Blackburn said Property Report will be out on newsstands in the Philippines by April. Meanwhile, the Philippine Property Report Awards is now open for nominations on the website (http://www.asiapropertyawards.com/). This year, the awards, which honor the best in the real estate industry, has been expanded to 23 from last year's 18. "The whole concept of the awards is to recognize the best in real estate in the region or the Philippines... Judging by the quality of the winners last year, we're very confident that we will have equally high-quality winners this year," Blackburn said. --- ABS-CBNnews.com and ABS-CBN Publishing are both part of ABS-CBN Corp.
