POGO ban could create a real estate crisis, P200Bn annual loss in PH
Banning all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) could trigger a real estate crisis and bring about P200 billion (US$3.39 billion) of annual economic losses in the country, warned Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) CEO David Leechiu.
During a briefing, Leechiu said that a total ban of POGOs could translate to a vacancy of 1.05 million square meters (sq.m.) of office space in the country.
The real estate consultant explained that high vacancy rates could push rental prices as far back as two decades ago, affecting medium-sized and smaller property players.
Higher vacancy and low rental rates may then result in a “liquidity crunch” for the sector and thus trigger another crisis for the property industry.
“A full exit of the POGO industry is expected to not only accumulate further losses in sources of income and tax but also increase office vacancies and push rental rates further down than during the pandemic,” stated Leechiu.
So far, the POGO sector has vacated 630,000 sq.m. of office space across the country, which has led to contractions in the real estate sector for the last three years.
