Property Developers in Makati: A Foreign Buyer's Shortlist for 2026

You can buy a condominium from the major property developers in Makati as a foreigner, but you cannot buy the land under it, and you cannot be part of the buyer pool once a project hits its foreign cap. Those two rules decide everything about how you shop in Makati, so get them straight before you fall in love with a show unit.

The land restriction comes from the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article XII, Section 7, which reserves private land ownership for Filipino citizens and corporations that are at least 60 percent Filipino owned. The condominium exception comes from Republic Act No. 4726, the Condominium Act. Foreigners may own units in a condominium project, but total foreign ownership cannot exceed 40 percent of the project, measured by floor area or unit count as set in the master deed. The land sits with a condominium corporation that must remain at least 60 percent Filipino held. Try to push a sale past the 40 percent line and the Register of Deeds can refuse the title transfer, and courts have voided excess foreign ownership outright. If a project is already capped, your alternative is a long-term lease of up to 50 years, renewable for 25, under RA 7652, the Investors' Lease Act.

The Makati developer shortlist

Makati is a small, mature central business district, so the credible names are few and the differences between them are real.

Ayala Land is the master developer of the Makati CBD itself, which is the reason the district has held value for decades. Its premium residential line includes Park Terraces, Garden Towers and Roxas Triangle, and its subsidiaries Alveo and Avida cover the mid and upper-mid tiers. For a foreign buyer who wants the lowest delivery and estate-management risk, Ayala is the default benchmark. Rockwell Land developed and still manages the Rockwell Center, a gated enclave that trades at a premium precisely because the developer controls the whole estate, with towers such as The Proscenium and Edades. Century Properties built Century City along Kalayaan Avenue, home to the Gramercy Residences, Milano and the Century Spire. It is design-led and well known, though buyers should look closely at completion timelines on its newer phases.

SM Development Corporation (SMDC) offers the more accessible entry points in Makati with projects like Air Residences and Jazz Residences, useful if your budget sits below the premium tier but you still want a branded developer. Federal Land rounds out the list with a long Metro Manila track record.

The transaction costs to price in

The sticker price is not the cost. On a Makati purchase, budget documentary stamp tax at 1.5 percent of the higher of price or zonal value, transfer tax of up to 0.75 percent to the local government, and registration fees, on top of the unit price. On resale, capital gains tax of 6 percent applies, customarily borne by the seller but always negotiable, so read who pays it in your contract. Then there are monthly association dues, which in premium Makati towers can run high enough to change your net rental yield materially. Model the all-in number before you decide a unit is cheap.

How to actually vet a Makati project

Ask the seller, in writing, for the project's current foreign ownership percentage against the 40 percent cap. This is the single most important number and the one most agents avoid quoting. Confirm the condominium corporation's Filipino ownership stands at 60 percent or more, since a defective corporate structure can taint your title regardless of your own slot. For off-plan units, get the developer's License to Sell from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, and check its handover record on comparable completed towers. A developer's delivery history is verifiable on a platform like Bektu (https://bektu.com), and in Makati's off-plan market that history is the difference between a 2027 handover and a stalled shell.

The Makati premium is paid for stewardship, not just location. Among property developers in Makati, the ones that own and manage their estates for the long run are the ones whose units a foreign buyer can resell without a discount.

For the wider legal picture, see Bektu's guides on whether foreigners can own property in the Philippines, the 40 percent condo cap under RA 4726, and Manila versus Cebu versus Davao for foreign buyers.