Priming the PH property sweet spot

The future is bright for Bacolod City and developers see gar-gantuan opportunities. (FILE PHOTO)

Bacolod City continues to attract national players and we see this resulting in the development of more masterplanned communities and a further expansion of the city’s office and residential stock.

The entry of national developers is also raising the prices of vertical and horizontal projects, indicative of property firms’ confidence in the purchasing power of Bacolod City’s investors and end-users. National players, meanwhile, have been proactive in fulfilling the demands of their discerning and affluent investors.

Bacolod is one of the most active locations in the Visayas in terms of IT-BPM development. It is one of the most attractive locations for large multinational outsourcing companies and we see more giant firms gravitating towards the city given its skilled manpower and improving infrastructure network. This development helps the city attract more national property firms resulting in the expansion of the city’s office, residential, retail, and leisure footprint.

The future is bright for Bacolod City and developers see gargantuan opportunities. Colliers believes that developers should be strategic in acquiring parcels of developable land in the locale. National players may opt to partner with homegrown ones or to tie up with the local government. Colliers sees brownfield assets that are highly viable for masterplanned projects that are ideal for a mix of office, residential, and retail development.

Curating projects to offer to investors and end-users

Colliers encourages developers to carefully monitor attractive price segments in the pre-selling vertical market. In our view, developers should be proactive in assessing the viability of launching more mid-income to upscale condominium projects especially with the entry of national players.

Developers should further assess the Bacolod market’s reception for luxury projects, especially in the light of newly-launched residential towers by national developers. In our view, developers are likely to further test higher-income segments over the next 12 to 24 months. Colliers Philippines believes that the more expensive projects are highly viable especially within newly-launched integrated communities in Bacolod City.

Alternative options for house-and-lot developments as end-user demand thrives

While Bacolod City remains the primary site for residential development, Colliers encourages developers to explore alternative sites around the fringes of Bacolod including Talisay and Silay. In H1 2022, these areas accounted for 35 percent of total take-up of horizontal units (H&L and lot only) in Negros Occidental. With strong end-user demand, developers should be more proactive in identifying alternative sites for lot-only and house-and-lot projects. Bacolod City is an attractive location for end-user projects given its thriving domestic market whose purchasing power is partly fueled by remittances from Filipinos working abroad. Bacolod is part of Western Visayas which is one of the major sources of annual OFW deployment and remittance inflows.

Developers should assess the Bacolod market’s reception for luxury projects.

Township-led development

Colliers believes that residential demand will also be supported by the development of integrated communities in the city. Colliers believes that the demand for masterplanned projects will further be influenced by the improvement of the city’s road network.

Careful masterplanning is key to further stoke demand in Bacolod City. Investors want to be near where the action is. They want accessibility and proximity to key establishments including hospitals, schools, and supermarkets. Convenience is king when offering township projects and investors are also starting to become more discerning by choosing projects that offer more open and greener spaces.

Offering more reasons to smile

With the current dynamics of the Bacolod residential market, we encourage local and national developers to further differentiate especially with the launch of more condominium projects in the city. Property firms should highlight their amenities as well as continue offering attractive payment options.

Colliers recommends that national developers further assess the viability of Bacolod market for more mid-income and upscale condominium projects. The expansion of the end-user market should also entice developers to launch more mid-income house-and-lot and lot-only developments.

There’s no doubt that the Bacolod property market is thriving. Developers and investors are definitely cashing in on these opportunities and the favorable trends in the Philippines’ property sweetspot are definitely giving developers, investors, and end-users more reasons to smile.

Colliers encourages developers to carefully monitor attractive
price segments in the pre-selling vertical market.

Bacolod is definitely primed for major developments and we see this redefining and transforming the city’s property landscape for years to come.

Bacolod is definitely primed for major developments and we see this redefining and transforming the city’s property landscape for years to come Developers should assess the Bacolod market’s reception for luxury projects.

The future is bright for Bacolod City and developers see gargantuan opportunities.

Colliers encourages developers to carefully monitor attractive price segments in the pre-selling vertical market.