Riding on Cebu’s property boom
(Conclusion)
Cebu remains the biggest and most active office hub outside of Metro Manila.
In 2025, overall office vacancy in Cebu reached 17 percent, the lowest level since 2019, and an improvement from 20.5 percent a year ago due to sustained demand from outsourcing companies.
Cebu cornered 121,000 sqm of office space transactions in 2025, up 71 percent year on year (YOY) and accounting for half of the total deals in areas
outside the National Capital Region (AONCR). Cebu was also the second most active submarket in the Philippines in terms of transaction volume in 2025.
By submarket, Cebu IT Park (CITP) led transactions, comprising 64 percent of the total deals in Cebu in 2025. This is followed by Mactan and Cebu Business Park (CBP) at 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
In 2025, net take-up in Cebu reached 87,600 sqm, a significant improvement from the 4,400 sqm of net absorption recorded a year ago. The notable deals from outsourcing firms, especially in Q2 2025, helped boost net take-up.
Foreign hotel brands betting big on Cebu
Cebu’s leisure sector continues to perform well as shown by impressive rise in hotel occupancies and average daily rates.
This is understandable given that Cebu remains one of the most visited domestic destinations in the Philippines. This has been resulting in more property developers scouting aggressively in Cebu for the next viable location for a hotel or a leisure-oriented township.
Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed that foreign arrivals in 2025 reached 5.87 million, lower than the 8.4 million target set by the Philippine government and even the 5.95 million recorded in 2024. This year, the DOT expects international arrivals to reach 6.7 million, a mere 13 percent increase.
Despite lackluster arrival figures, the DOT reported that the share of tourism to the country’s economy rose to 8.9 percent in 2024 from 8.7 percent in 2023.
The Philippines also has the largest domestic tourism market in Southeast Asia, accounting for more than a third of the region’s total, with domestic tourism expenditure growing by 16.4 percent from P2.7 trillion to P3.1 trillion. Tourists are now spending more and staying longer, with average expenditure per arrival at $2,073 in 2024, from $1,218 in 2019, while length of stay is at 11 nights in 2024, from nine nights in 2019.
Colliers Philippines believes that the domestic market will continue to be a key driver for Philippine tourism. In 2024, the DOT recorded 63.9 million overnight travelers, up from 55.3 million in 2023. Domestic trips also grew to 134 million in 2024 from 122 million in 2023, with Cebu attracting 5.1 million travelers.
Property developers planning to expand their leisure footprint need to keep an eye on Cebu. We remain bullish with our growth projections for Cebu as it continues to receive a good mix of foreign and domestic tourists.
Cebu continues to corner more foreign investment pledges and the investors’ oculars and due diligence should have a positive impact on the demand for business hotels within the city’s information technology and business parks. (With a report from Kevin Jara, director and head of Office Service–Tenant Representation, Colliers Philippines)
