Big-time phishing

Ayala Corporation has issued an SOS as it was recently hit by a phishing wave involving messages sent via email using fake Ayala addresses.

Emails from various senders claiming to be from the Ayala “Vendor Coordination Team” invite suppliers to “register as a partner or vendor/supplier to supply materials or provide services for our infrastructure and developmental projects.”

The emails ask interested parties to send their information, including company profile and contact person, to email addresses with the domain name ayala-corp.com.

An Ayala statement said it was not associated with individuals or groups behind the pernicious scam. It has only one official domain name, ayala.com, and said it is taking steps to have the domain name ayala-corp.com blocked.

“We call on the public to be discerning and not engage with such scam emails. Ayala Corporation follows established protocol to engage with prospective suppliers,” it said.

High profile conglomerates and business leaders have been the targets of phishing for some time, which may indicate that the rip-off has achieved some level of success. Raffy Ayeng

Swank properties still hot

The ultra-luxury and upper-crust segments of the property sector remain largely unaffected by the market downturn, as net take-up remains positive, with the top one percent proving as resilient as ever to economic shocks.

Brisk sales are reported in the prime hotspots, such as the Makati Central Business District and Bonifacio Global City.

Developers reported the highest number of cancellations and the most significant net negative take-up in the middle-income segments.

These are segments where the buyers are typically “investors” looking for units to rent out, so rising vacancies and falling rental rates are likely the most significant factors for their cancellation.

On the other hand, market watcher AP Securities has seen net positive take-up in the economic and affordable segments, where buyers are typically end-users who intend to live in the units.

Colliers Philippines data showed net take-up of residential units in the first quarter reached only 89 units, with 4,746 backouts nearly canceling out the 4,835 take-ups.

Launches, on the other hand, reached around 5,300 units – the highest recorded number of quarterly launches since the third quarter of 2023.

Among the notable launches were ALI’s Avida Towers Makati Southpoint Tower 3 in Makati, HOUSE’s Urban Deca Tondo Building 7 in Manila, and the SHNG-RLC joint venture Haraya Residences–North in Pasig.

The slight uptick in launches this quarter is still historically weak compared to the pre-pandemic boom days. AP Securities views this as a concerted effort by developers to alleviate inventory pressures, as they focus on selling their existing stock of units.

To aid this, we are seeing more aggressive marketing, RFO, rent-to-own promotions, and extended payment schemes.

They are also likely banking on the upcoming boost in demand as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to lower benchmark interest rates.