Paranaque – A Competitive City in the Heart of the North

Property hotspots and how to avoid them

The City of Paranaque is one of the many municipalities that make up Metro Manila in the Philippines. Located by highly-urbanized cities like Taguig and Pasay, this highly-competitive city is considered a prime location for people who want to settle in an urban town that is also near the borders of rural provinces, like Cavite and Laguna.

Parañaque Skyline
Image from https://manilametro.wordpress.com/

So what’s the advantage with a city that is near major rural provinces? Well, one of the major advantages would be living in an area where it’s peaceful and quiet, but you have all the amenities and the stores that you need for buying most items that are lacking when living in a rural area. And because it is one of the many urban areas in Metro Manila, there are a lot of good options for choosing real estate investments. Whether its a condominium in the city, a townhouse in a quiet little suburb, or a business building within the commercial district, the city of Paranaque has a lot to offer.

HISTORY

This highly-urbanized city was once just a simple fishing barangay during the Pre-Spanish days of the Philippines.

When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his group of Spanish colonizers landed in Manila, it is said that they discovered a small community who lived near the Manila Bay where fishing or “paglalayag” were their only source of income. But on the other side of the community called Muntinlupa, the natives, who were living on rice farming, were called “taga-Palayan”. These two groups of people intermingled with each other, often on little celebrations.

History of Parañque
Image from http://www.baclaranchurch.org/history.html

It was said that once upon a time, these two groups had a feast to decide what the name of their place would be. The rice farmers wanted to name the place “Palalayan”, but the fishermen protested and wanted the place to be named “Palalayag”. In order to reach a conclusion, both parties agreed to a compromise and instead decided to name the place “Palanyag”.

Several years later during the Spanish era, the placed was renamed “Para Aniya Ake” because of several instances where Spanish soldiers would tell the native coachman “Para aqui, para aqui (Stop here, stop here)” whenever they reached Palanyag. These native coachmen would tell their humorous versions of this story until the name stuck in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of old Paranaque.

WHAT WILL YOU FIND IN PARANAQUE?

In Paranaque, you’ll find almost everything.

You have countless malls and shops, stores of every kind, nature parks and plazas where you and your family and friends can sit and enjoy the little pleasures of life, as well as numerous condos and townhouses to choose from, should anyone wish to become a permanent member of the community.

In fact, the city of Paranaque has a list of the top 150 businesses that were instrumental in improving Paranaque’s growing economy. Baclaran, which is where most of the dry goods stores are located, is the testament of the city’s improving dry goods industry and is also the barangay with the most population in Paranaque.

Shopping in Parañaque
Image from http://directionsonweb.blogspot.com/2010/12/short-cut-to-christmas-shopping-in.html

Paranaque City is also known as the fashion capital of Metro Manila and is home to the largest fashion boutiques and shops. There are three major shopping malls in the city; these are SM City Sucat, SM City Baclaran, and SM City BF Paranaque. Other malls such as Walter Mart in Baclaran and Sucat also offer stores and shops for everyone’s convenience.

Big Malls in Paranaque
Image from http://mapio.net/s/75236769/

For those who want to shop with a specific budget in mind, there’s the Jaka Plaza Mall and the Pergola Lifestyle Mall. And of course, there’s Baclaran, if you don’t mind squeezing in with everyone who are also there to shop and take advantage of the cheapest prices for dry goods.

Baclaran Redemptorist Church
Author: Ramon FVelasquez

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NationalShrineofOurMotherofPerpetualHelpjf9967_01.JPG

For the religious and cultural side, you have the Baclaran Redemptorist Church, which is the biggest church in the city, and the Cathedral Parish of Saint Andrew, the oldest church in Paranaque. The Tambo Mangroves Aviary Reserve is a conservation facility for both birds and mangroves and is a good tourist spot to visit if you are interested in such things.

Parañaque
Author: Ramon FVelasquez Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para%C3%B1aque

Do you want to enjoy the thrill of gambling?  Worry not. Paranaque City is also home to some of the biggest hotels in Metro Manila. There’s Casino Filipino, Aseana City or Entertainment City, Solaire Resort and Casino, and City of Dreams Manila.

For those who love a good food, try the Bakahan at Manukan Restaurants at the Coastal Roads in La Huerta, Paranaque.

THE REAL ESTATE SIDE OF PARANAQUE CITY

If there’s one thing why you should be excited to live in Paranaque, it’s because last September 4, 2015, a formal agreement was signed between Paranaque City, Philippines and Haeundae-Gu City in Busan, South Korea where the two cities are now sister cities.

Busan and Paranaque sisters cities
Image from http://paranaque.gov.ph/15813-2/

This means that the progressive sister city in Busan is more than willing to help the blossoming city of Paranaque in terms of infrastructure and other upcoming projects for this year. This also means more tourists coming from Haeundae-Gu to Paranaque, which is always a good sign for most real estate companies.

You can expect more condominiums and townhouses to rise up in Paranaque City, so have a look a look at our list of prime real estate offers now.

condo in Paranaque