Avida targets P3.6B in South Luzon sales

Mid-income residential developer Avida Land expects to sell P3.6 billion worth of inventory from South Luzon this year on strong demand from housing end-users, which now include families based in Metro Manila buying weekend homes away from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis.

The South Luzon sales targeted by Avida will mark a 4.65-percent growth from actual inventory sold last year and will represent about a fifth of around P6 billion worth of residential units that this brand plans to sell this year, Herbert Herrero, Avida assistant vice president for project and strategic management group said in a press briefing yesterday.

Avida has a considerable footprint in residential house- and-lot as well as lot-only projects in Laguna, Cavite and Batangas spanning 690 hectares.

This year, Avida kicks off its South Luzon selling with the second phase of its latest Batangas development, Avida Settings Lipa, a 21-hectare residential community. The property firm has so far launched a total inventory worth P604 million for this project.

Avida Settings Lipa is the developer’s seventh project in the province, offering house and lots in three different models and likewise giving buyers the option to buy lots only.

Land value at launch was at P14,600 per square meter (sqm) and has risen to P15,800/sqm. in just three months. Phase one of the project was 70 percent sold on its first month, prompting Avida to roll out a new phase.

Located along JP Laurel Highway, Avida Settings Lipa is close to the city’s malls, hospitals, schools, churches and transport terminal. The development will have a 1.4-hectare central amenity area with preserved trees, children’s and adult swimming pools, basketball court, playground, picnic area and multipurpose hall.

Herrero said units in Avida Settings were being sold starting at P4.8 million for a house and lot with a 125 sqm lot and 52-sqm living space. A 66-sqm house standing on a 154-sqm lot is selling at around P5.8 million while a house model with an 86-sqm floor area standing on a 180-sqm lot is selling at around P6.5 million. Some of these house-and-lot units already approximate the price for a one-bedroom 35-sqm Avida condominium unit in BGC which is selling at around P5.6 million.

The housing units are suitable for families who can afford monthly amortization of at least P48,000 to as high as P64,000. Avida typically targets households with a combined income of at least P150,000 to a little over P200,000, comprising mostly of mid-level professional managers.

Herrero said 70 percent of Avida’s buyers were end-users. He also noted that Avida was increasingly attracting families buying secondary homes, which now comprise of 50 percent of buyers intending to purchase for their own use. Five years ago, he said the share of such families buying provincial Avida homes was very low at 10 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA