Condos in cities, houses in provinces

A MUCH-PREFERED address on Roxas Boulevard is Moldex condo

OVERSEAS FILIPINOS who are home for the holidays may likely consider purchasing condominiums, as property experts view OFs as main contributors to homebuying purchases during the holidays.

Enrique M. Soriano III, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, said OFs’ preference would be condominiums in key cities, especially in the National Capital Region, while housing projects in mid-scale subdivisions would be more sought after in nearby provinces.

“Cities will always be the preferred choice for OFWs and first time homebuyers,” said Soriano. He added that research has shown that close to 80 percent of condominium developments are concentrated in Mega Manila.

OVERSEAS FILIPINOS prefer to buy condos in cities.

Soriano added that for a condominium purchase, the opportunities for buyers are aplenty due to the following reasons: the need for a halfway house in the city; as an investment; as a source of recurring income (rent); and psychic income.

Colliers International’s Julius Guevara, associate director, valuation and advisory services and head of consultancy and research, said house and lot properties are still the dominant housing type in the provinces due to the availability of affordable land.

Guevara said: “While there are more condos being developed in major cities such as Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro, a majority of the demand still focuses on the house-and-lot type. This being said, Cebu has been a very successful market for residential condominiums and has seen development of premium product over the years, and this is mainly because Cebu is already highly urbanized. Davao also has a strong condo market.”

Smaller share

Colliers International’s Karlo Pobre, research analyst, consultancy and valuation services, said “the condominium market comprises a smaller share of the housing industry, most of which is concentrated in Metro Manila.”

Pobre said: “All throughout the country, landed properties are still the most preferred product type, both in the provinces and even in major urban centers. Moreover, the housing backlog is focused in the economic and low-cost housing segments, which typically are horizontal developments in areas where land is more affordable.”

Soriano said that in the mid- to high-end category, condominium sales have outperformed house and lot sales.

“As a matter of fact, we are seeing a pattern of product substitution by horizontal developers shifting to condominium development,” he said.

Soriano observed that there is a noticeable increase of new condominium projects in such progressive cities like Cebu, Davao, Cagayan De Oro and Iloilo.

He said the top developers are on their way to surpassing their quota for 2012.

End-user demand

Soriano said: “A real estate purchase is always premised on end-user demand. With 9 million OFs dispersed globally and representing 10 percent of our population, housing sales will continue.”

Guevara said: “Based on our findings on the first three quarters of 2012 for the entire Metro Manila residential condominium preselling market, we anticipate that end-2012 figures will at the very least match 2011’s performance of almost 50,000 units. SMDC, Ayala Land, Megaworld and Vista Land continue to lead the industry, while DMCI, Century Properties and Federal Land are also performing very well.