Skipping starter homes, more Pinoys opt for mid-priced residences
Mesilo is a 150-hectare first class development located in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
A growing number of Filipino homebuyers have started to prioritize their long term residential needs by passing up on starter homes and purchasing a place that will meet their future needs—even if it means having to shell out more.
Thanks to recent improvements in the economy, they are now more motivated to purchase a home for many reasons, including the pride of ownership and desire to establish roots in a community.
Acquisition costs have also eased as new loan facilities have been made available for developers, as well as more affordable end-use loans for the homebuyers.
SMDC commits itself to provide access to luxurious urban living through vertical villages perfectly integrated with a commercial retail environment.
Indeed, this group of homebuyers now look for homes in the mid-market segment, meaning those priced above the economic housing segment of P1.7 million and below the VAT (value added tax) threshold of P3.2 million. These are the places they could call their own, where they can eventually raise their families.
“The mid-income market represents a large percentage of the Metro Manila population. While speculative investment in high end properties has tapered off a bit, we foresee the mid-market segment to continue to grow, supported by a growing population benefiting from robust economic growth. These are also end-user buyers, who will live in the units they purchase instead of renting them out. So the projects should be built with this in mind,” observed Julius Guevara, director and head of consultancy, valuation and advisory services of Colliers International Philippines.
And developers are more than willing to provide them.
Mango Tree Residences is a two-tower high rise condo standing on a five-level podium with a luxurious ground-level retail arcade.
Wide market base
To widen its market base and to provide a comfortable home for every hardworking Filipino, Empire East Land Holdings Inc., the low- to middle-income housing arm of Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp. decided to make luxury living affordable.
“Innovation is very important for us as the market keeps growing and it keeps on getting more sophisticated. We have to keep reinventing the wheel in order for us to respond to the needs and aspirations of the people,” said Empire East president Atty. Anthony Charlemagne Yu.
The company’s most recent endeavor, the Mango Tree Residences located along Paterno Street corner Ledesma Street in San Juan is one excellent example.
The two-tower high rise condominium standing on a five level podium, features high-end amenities and facilities that would make living at Mango Tree Residences truly convenient and relaxing. Moreover, it has low density with only 10 units per floor, making it perfect for its buyers who value privacy.
“What we put in are elements that could help improve and redefine the quality of life of an individual. The company believes that as a developer, it is our responsibility and duty to equip our developments with the necessary tools to make living in the concrete urban jungle more relaxing and enjoyable,” Yu said.
The Mango Tree Residences is just one of exemplary developments Empire East has built in its 22 years of existence. Other notable projects include San Lorenzo Place in Makati City; Little Baguio Terraces in San Juan City; Sonoma in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Cambridge Village in Eastbank Road Pasig-Cainta; The Rochester in Pasig City; Kasara Urban Resort Residences along Eagle St. Pasig City; Pioneer Woodlands along Pioneer St. Mandaluyong City; and Covent Garden in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
International offices
Acknowledging the ever growing strength of the OFW market, Sta. Lucia Land in 2012 opened its first international office in London. That same year, it also opened offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Milan, Paris, and United States. This move was soon followed by assigning accredited real estate brokers and sales personnel in Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and Barcelona in Spain.
With families looking for house and lots or lots only, Sta. Lucia has entered into ventures with property owners to penetrate more areas outside of Metro Manila. These ventures include Colinas Verdes, a masterplanned community in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; Carmel Ridge and Morning Fields at Carmeltown in Calamba and Canlubang in Laguna; Nueva Vida at Mesilo, a 30-hectare property along Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
Just recently, the company announced it is aggressively pursuing expansion, acquiring 36 properties in Batangas, Laguna, Palawan, Cebu, Iloilo, and Zamboanga City.
The acquisitions translated to 125.35 hectares of land, bringing the total to 1.824 million sqm of joint venture agreements and 2.212 million square meters of land acquisitions for year 2016 to date.
With families looking for house and lots or lots only, Sta. Lucia has entered into ventures with property owners to penetrate more areas outside of Metro Manila.
Selective
In an interview, SMDC EVP Jose Mari Banzon explained that today’s aspiring homebuyers have become selective, choosing a home they can live in for years.
Banzon noted that condo living was relatively for the wealthy over a decade ago. But the landscape has since changed.
Meanwhile, Guevara pointed out that SMDC in Metro Manila may be regarded as the largest in terms of unit count as it has the Coast Residences and Shore Residences in the Manila Bay Area, and the Air Residences in Makati City.
It should be remembered that SMDC was formed when Henry Sy Jr., the eldest son of businessman Henry Sy, had a vision to make housing more affordable for Filipinos without sacrificing quality.
By 2007, SMDC became more aggressive in vertical housing developments—so much so that in just 10 years, the company was able to launch a total of 28 projects in the cities of Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Manila, Taguig, Makati, Quezon, as well as in Tagaytay. This represents more than 80,000 units.
To give more value for money, SMDC’s trademark offerings would include providing five-star amenities such as grand lobbies, function rooms, and resort-style amenities with swimming pools and landscaped gardens.
Moreover, these residences are built near SM malls, schools and transport hubs to help residents beat the city traffic while putting everything within reach.
Potential
Even Century Properties, known for its ultra exclusive, fully integrated developments, recognized the potential when it began the development of the 4.4-hectare The Residences at Commonwealth, an eight-tower community located at Don Antonio Drive in Quezon City.
Earlier, the company announced that huge majority of its buyers for The Residences at Commonwealth comprised of overseas Filipino workers. As such, the company said it would continue to give importance to the largely underserved overseas market.
This market is 11 million strong and spread across all continents. To prove its seriousness, the company established over 70 international offices and selling partners throughout three continents, making it one of the first real estate firms to cater to Filipinos abroad.
Apart from OFWs, Century Properties also acknowledged the strength of the country’s young income earners as emerging drivers of the demand for affordable homes.
It noted that these OFWs and young income earners also fueled the company’s other affordable to mid-market offerings such as the Positano and Miami towers of the Azure Urban Residences in Parañaque City; and Niagara and Sutherland towers of Acqua Private Residences in Mandaluyong City.
Aside from its distinct design and strategic location, The Residences at Commonwealth brings the concept of the hyper-amenitized community that the developer, Century Properties, has become known for.
Well thought out design
Another wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld Corp., Suntrust Properties, has consistently delivered affordable homes as well as master-planned communities by combining well-thought-out designs that focus on space-saving and functionality features customized to the needs of low-to-moderate-income Filipino families.
In a recent groundbreaking rites for The Fountain Grove, a P2-billion, 24.52-hectare mid-cost residential project in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Suntrust Properties president Harrison Paltongan said the company is just continuing its mission to build more elegant yet affordable housing units.
“We envisioned this project as something that is a game changer in the development landscape of the province, particularly to the cities of Talisay and Bacolod. This is something for the future of Negros,” Paltongan said.
He revealed that this project will pave the way for the development of the 15-hectare Forbes Hill, a bigger residential project, and another 7.5-hectare commercial center.
All these developments forms part of the 53-hectare Northhill Gateway, a township development that will soon rise along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road that border the cities of Talisay and Bacolod.
He also said the project has the potential to create employment opportunities to about 45, 000 for the construction of almost 1,500 houses only, on top of the thousands of jobs for the land development phase.
“This is our contribution to the nation building,” said Paltongan, who revealed that last year, the company has also began the development of One Lakeshore Drive project in Davao City.
“After finishing the first four towers and looking into building four more. Moreover, expect the first tower for the Davao Park District’s other component, the P1.2-billion Davao Finance Center to be ready to generate about 8,000 jobs from business process outsourcing companies and other offices that are scheduled to locate in the building,” Paltongan said.
Another giant
This property giant has certainly come a long way from its beginnings in 1972.
Leveraging brand recognition along with its 44-year track record in real estate, Federal Land, the property development arm of GT Capital Holdings, is setting up a series of planned cluster condominiums designed for the middle to upper-mid market at the Bonifacio Global City.
Apart from BGC, Federal Land is also embarking on simultaneous developments to target different market segments in other trade hubs, such as Makati, Manila’s Chinatown, Quezon city, the Manila Bay area and Cebu.
According to Alfred Ty, Federal Land president and Bonifacio Landmark Corp (BLC) chair, with continuous development, the company learns what its audience is looking for—good quality, good space planning, useful amenities combined with reasonable costing. “Putting all these elements together has always been Federal Land’s focus,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Guevara other recognizable brands in the mid-market segment includes Anchor Land, Taft Properties and Grand Land, which operates mostly in the provinces
