Industry experts note that job creation could benefit the Southeast Asian real estate sector as more office space is required in key cities, subsequently increasing the demand for residential and retail spaces as well.

The AEC is expected to generate some 14 million jobs within the next decade across Southeast Asia, according to the joint study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Asian Development Bank.

Philippines

In anticipation of this development, PropertyAsia.ph, along with its affiliates CondoAsia.ph and HousesAsia.ph – which receive a total of 18,000 unique visits per month – is looking to expand its regional clout by listing properties in overseas markets like Singapore.

More: Is Southeast Asia the emerging powerhouse?

The move is expected to “level the playing field among regional industry players in exposing their properties and global real property seekers to find condominiums, houses and lots, and office spaces, among others,” said PropertyAsia.ph’s managing director Joeri Stegeman in a recent report by GMA News.

He added that real estate and construction activities would intensify once the AEC commences, creating a “stiffer, but healthier, competition” among developers, brokers and agents.

Malaysia

Brickz Research Sdn Bhd has launched another property portal – Brickz.my – which is geared towards investors, agents and buyers. The young website aims to help increase Malaysia’s real estate market transparency.

“Singapore is ranked No. 1 in the region, although we are ranked much higher than countries like China, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia,” Premendran Pathmanathan, Bricks.my’s founder and managing director, told Digital News Asia. Pathmanathan highlighted the portal’s progressively transparent features of revealing transacted prices, up-to-date average prices in specific areas, and even providing customised reports for properties in Kuala Lumpur and the state of Selangor.

More: How the AEC can help push urban growth renewal

“This website will work towards improving our ranking as well as build a healthier property market and curb speculation,” he added.

Thailand

Elsewhere in the region, Malaysia-based regional listings giant iProperty Group recently acquired Thailand’s ThinkOfLiving.com in order to expand its presence in the wider ASEAN region.

ThinkOfLiving.com has established itself as a profitable business and counts Thailand’s top 20 developers as subscribers, Digital News Asia reported.

“The acquisition brings the total number of developer advertisers on iProperty Group websites to approximately 500 across the region, enabling us to offer unique and wide regional marketing opportunities to real estate developers and agencies who would like to target buyers in multiple Asian countries,” said iProperty managing director and CEO Georg Chmiel in a statement to media. nulla.