Where are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) snapping up properties? Asia Property Report has recently published an article on the top real estate investment destinations for hundreds of thousands of OFWs who are based in the Middle East, aside from the obvious choice of Manila Metro.

Some 1,000 OFWs in the United Arab Emirates had participated in a survey that was conducted as part of the two-day Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE) in Abu Dhabi recently.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, Grace Relucio Princesa commented that PPIE comes at an opportune time as many Filipinos working overseas now look at real estate as a major investment option.

She said that the event offers an opportunity for others to learn more about the burgeoning property industry in the country. Whereas, the Philippines itself has been forecast as Asia's next economic miracle and investing there would likely yield better returns than elsewhere in Asia.

Meanwhile, in Metro Manila, several high-profile projects from the country's top developers are under construction and currently generating interest from both local and foreign investors.

Among those developments is the ‘Vertis North' project in Quezon City, the capital's largest city by land area. Developed by Alveo Land, a unit of Ayala Land Inc, the two-tower condominium project is scheduled to be turned over to buyers between 2019 and 2020, local news agency, Interaksyon.com reported.

Last year, Alveo Land also launched a residential project in another OFW-favourite Laguna province, dubbed the ‘Lumira Nuvali', its fourth landed development in the burgeoning Nuvali township.

Another top developer, Megaworld Corporation, has become bullish on township developments. The company, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in the real estate sector, announced that it is looking to further expand its urban townships to gain one million residents within the next five years.

As of first quarter of 2015, Megaworld townships have an estimated 250,000 residents and around 150,000 office worker population, mostly in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which includes many former OFWs.

Through the company's real estate subsidiaries, namely Empire East Land Holdings Inc, Suntrust Properties Inc and Global Estate Resorts Inc, Megaworld has township developments in key areas in the Philippines, including Metro Manila, Laguna, Davao, Cebu, Iloilo and Batangas.

"By 2020, we expect to increase our total population by 150 percent in all of our urban townships, which will reach at least one million" said Dr. Andrew L. Tan, founder and Chief Executive of the Megaworld Group, in a statement.

Megaworld also revealed plans to strengthen its commercial and retail property portfolio in its township projects in order to attract more Filipino buyers who put a premium on leisure and shopping.

"Condominium residents, for example, need not go far to buy groceries and gifts, or even watch movies. BPO workers, on the other hand, need not take public transportation just to buy food or eat in restaurants. In our communities, everything is just within reach" Tan reported commenting.

The real estate giant has allotted PHP230 billion (USD5.11 billion) for its township developments until 2019.