Century Property’s contactless shift boosts sales

Antonio family-led Century Properties Group (CPG) reported its residential property sales picked up in the second quarter—the period during which the brunt of pandemic-related lockdown protocols was mostly felt—coming from a sluggish start in the first quarter.

CPG said its residential sales improved to P3.16 billion in the second quarter from P2.96 billion in the first quarter, or the period which saw the eruption of Taal Volcano.

A total P6.1-billion reservation sales seen in the first half consisted of 1,925 residential units: 651 condominium units under the firm’s in-city vertical developments business and 1,274 house-and-lot units under its affordable housing brand.

CPG attributed the improved quarter-on-quarter sales take-up to digitalization efforts that transformed the home buying process into what it described as a “safe, contactless and convenient” experience.

“Century Properties was quick to adapt to digital selling and contactless transactions that generated healthy reservation sales for the first half of 2020. From an investment standpoint, real estate is more stable and safe in the long term, and it’s a hard asset that you can use,” CPG president and chief executive Marco Antonio said in a press statement.

“But the new normal has also changed people’s perspectives. More than purchasing for investment returns, buyers are also starting to appreciate the value of home ownership to protect the health and well-being of their families,” he said.

Reservation sales are an indication of the revenues that the property developer may recognize in the coming years, depen­ding on construction progress.

Even with the improved momentum in sales, majority of which would be booked as part of 2021 earnings, CPG said it would exercise business prudence given that the lockdowns have halted construction activity for three months.

“We are also keeping a close watch on market conditions in the property industry and the banking sector to get timing indications for next project launches,” Antonio added.

CPG, which has been in the real estate business for the last 34 years, expanded into horizontal affordable housing in 2017. It has, since then, rolled out six master-planned communities spanning 104 hectares in north Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) area. INQ