Consunji-led DMCI Homes Inc. plans to launch four new projects next year that may bring in around P37 billion in reservation sales as the developer hopes to see demand recovery in the still-challenged sector.
DMCI Homes president Alfredo Austria told reporters last week the new projects would all be launched in the second half of 2025 to give time for the company’s unsold inventory to shrink.
“We just launched big projects … Financially, it does not look good if your inventory is too high,” Austria told reporters, adding that they were likewise trying to manage high construction costs.
According to him, the company would earmark P16 billion in capital expenditures next year, majority of which would go to building new projects in Metro Manila, Baguio and, possibly, Cebu City.
New condo in Cebu
Last month, DMCI Homes, whose projects are mainly located in the capital region, launched the P24-billion Kalea Heights project in Cebu.
The 4.6-hectare residential condominium marks the beginning of DMCI Homes’ expansion into one of the country’s most populous cities amid slow demand in Metro Manila.
DMCI Homes will first launch the 41-story Leia building that will offer one- to three-bedroom units ranging from P5.7 million to P13.4 million each. Turnover is expected by December 2029.
Austria also noted they were seeing a better performance for the company next year, especially with interest rates expected to go down.
Although the impact of the monetary policy easing may trickle down to mortgage rates, real estate investment management firm Colliers Philippines earlier explained that this may not be felt until the middle of next year as construction costs remained high.
Still, lower borrowing costs are seen to spur demand.
Asked whether they had plans to shift their focus to developing projects outside Metro Manila, Austria clarified that “the cost of construction is high everywhere.”
“You tend to develop where there is a market,” he said, adding that they may only launch “a few” projects in other areas in the medium to long term.
In the January to September period, DMCI Homes’ earnings slid by 34 percent to P768 million due to lower real estate revenues, which also fell by more than a third to P2.81 billion.
Total units sold during the period dropped by nearly 40 percent to 1,378 after coming from a high base last year, DMCI Homes said. —Meg J. Adonis