Dynamic property landscape

To say that much has changed in the Philippine real estate scene over the past decades is an understatement.

But what stands out—apart from the fact that the industry is in a much better footing today than it was in the late ’90s and early 2000s—is that homebuyers and investors are now accorded the luxury of choice: a vast and varied array of home choices, whether you prefer lots, house-and-lot packages, or towering residential condominiums located in key cities and within business districts.

There are a number of tiers too, when it comes to price points, ensuring that a bigger and broader market can be covered—from the affordable, in which you can buy a single detached home for less than a million pesos, to the ultra-luxury segment, which commands a whopping P400,000 to P450,000 per sqm, or more.

And then, there are the “new” necessities that have largely driven the demand: resort-themed projects, student residences, condotels, arts and culture-centered homes, ultra premium developments, lakeside communities, and golf projects, among many others.

Today, prospective buyers look beyond the shell, the building, or the development per se. Many of them seek for a lifestyle-centered home, where convenience and accessibility are a given, where they can find respite after a grueling day, and where they can achieve their career, health and even family goals.

Across segments

And the changes are being felt, not only in the residential segment. Even mall operators are seeing a growing trend favoring food and beverage (F&B) and home furnishing tenants, which are expected to redefine retail space absorption in 2019.

New kinds of offices—such as collaborative workspaces—are likewise on demand given the growing number of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Warehousing is also a growing segment given the increasing popularity of online shopping in the country, which therefore demands warehouses to stock products being sold online.

Flexibility

Indeed, the claim by Colliers International Philippines that flexibility is the name of the game for property developers this year, couldn’t ring more true.

Fortunately, most of the country’s property developers have made a conscious, even aggressive, move to cater to the specific but varying needs of the markets they seek to serve.

Some property developers have decided to create these self-contained townships and estates, providing a new level of convenience and accessibility. In such communities, one will find a home near the office, while retail, dining and other commercial areas are just a stone’s throw away—easily, extensions of your home, meant to cater to your lifestyle needs.

Other developers have decided to focus on the niche market, providing student residences in areas where the top schools and universities are located. Some opted to cater to resort-loving families and individuals who prefer to have a calming sanctuary for a home.

Certain projects meanwhile cater to the office workers, those who want affordable, halfway homes to avoid the horrendous daily traffic grind. Some residential developers are tweaking their projects to cater to Chinese offshore gaming employees and local professionals.

In the provinces, developers have become even far more creative in their project offerings: a golf development, a lakeside community, a residential mountain retreat, among others.

And given the increasingly cutthroat competition in the country, homebuyers and investors can only expect more innovations and fresh offerings from property developers. In the following pages, one would see how these real estate firms are innovating their way to the top, in an effort to capture a lion’s share of a growing demand for quality homes and lifestyles.