However as in a great many things, there are numerous ways of getting around this. The simplest way around this for a foreigner to acquire real estate properties in the Philippines is to and a Filipino wife or husband purchase the property. Another way around this would be to have a partner who is a Filipino and get them to purchase property. The legal status of this would be that the partner would own 51% or more of the property and the remainder is owned by the foreigner.

The above having been worked around just how valuable is the property market in the Philippines? Well, eight years on after the East Asian financial crisis, the property market in the Philippines would appear to be at last moving again.

In recent months, property prices across most segments of the economy and the Philippines have been rising at a pace reminiscent of the late 1990s. Opinion is divided of course but some economists and market analysts now believe that this latest trend may have signalled a return to the long-awaited property boom.

One of the major influences behind the re-emergence of the Philippine property market would be the emergence of the Philippines as an outsourcing destination. This last fact has boosted the demand for office space virtually everywhere and he is supported by the fact that the vacancy rate for prime office buildings in the Philippines has fallen to around 5%.

With vacancy rates now at a level unseen since the start of the 1990s building boom, the Philippines are poised ready to take off.

The reason for the re-emergence of Philippine property market is quickly best described as a classic confluence of growing demand amid very tight limited supply.

With the construction of property now lacking behind the supply of the property the market itself is looking healthier. With no traditional office buildings having been completed and the cost two years tight supply coupled with a buoyant markets and strong bemoaned continued to push rents and vacancy rates back to where they were before the Asian financial crisis.

The final indication, if ever one was needed, that the property market is back with a vengeance would appear to line with the fact that Free rents for office space are now themselves in very short supply.