Written on October 24, 2024 (2 minute read)

by Sandro Oreña - @sandro_realty

Do you want to live close to Makati and BGC WITHOUT paying Makati and BGC prices?

Merville Park in Parañaque is a great place to live. I’ve lived here for the past 28 years and it's an up-and-coming area. Here are three reasons to live in Merville:

1. 20 minutes from Magallanes at ½ the price

Here is a quick comparison between prices in Merville and Makati/BGC.

Merville is only 4.7km from Magallanes at only ¼  or ½  of Makati prices (depending where in Makati). Merville zonal value (ZV) is currently at P64,000 per sqm, a fraction of the Makati and BGC prices.

Note that Makati has not updated their zonal values since 2021, and are set to increase their zonal values in early 2025 (NOTE: As of Feb 2025, there is no set date yet for this.)

If you want to live in a house and still work in BGC/Makati, Merville is a great option in terms of cost.

Merville is pretty accessible, having its own exit on SLEX and having a brand new tollway to C5. I take the C5 Extension Tollway going to our BGC office and it has greatly improved my drive. If I need to go up to Quezon City, I just take the Skyway from NAIA. 

2. New developments not yet priced in

There’s a lot of brand new exciting developments in the area, and I believe the market hasn’t factored these into the Merville prices yet. Here are some of the coming developments:

ARCA South - Ayala’s newest business district in Metro Manila. This is right across Merville, on the East Service Road. With already a few brand new buildings, this is going to turn into a premier business district similar to BGC.

3 Subway Stations - The current subway project, being worked on by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will include 3 subway stations close to Merville. Namely, NAIA, ARCA South, and Bicutan (not pictured).

NAIA Renovation - San Miguel is investing 40 billion pesos into the renovation of NAIA. A more efficient, world-class airport will definitely improve the area.

Bonifacio Capital District - This development was only just announced last August 2024. Robinsons Land is developing a new business district near the new senate building in Chino Roces. This is around 20 minutes from Merville.

Why does all of this matter?

Property prices in Merville received a huge boost from the C5 extension that finished construction last 2022. Zonal values increased from 20k/sqm in 2018 to 64k/sqm in 2023 with the new C5 extension. I can’t predict the future and I definitely do not promise that zonal values will triple again in 2027, but I believe there is a lot of upside in Merville.

3. A great community for families

Merville has a great community, with a good mix of young and old, Filipino and foreign. Go anywhere in Merville at around 4-5PM and you’ll see people jogging, families walking, people walking their dogs, and kids playing at the park. There are lots of different events and bazaars going on, so if you’d like to go out and enjoy yourself you don’t need to go that far. Also, Merville doesn’t really have the POGO problem that other subdivisions had to grapple with.

Thanks for reading this far. If you’re interested in moving or buying property here, I’d be happy to help!