REALTORS are turning to leisure-oriented projects to offset the impact of the tepid demand for pure residential developments in Metro Manila, according to property consultant Colliers Philippines.
Joey Roi Bondoc, Colliers head of research, was referring to offerings outside Metro Manila by developers like Brittany, DMCI Homes, Rockwell Land, Megaworld, Ayala Land, Robinsons Land, Cebu Landmasters and Damosa Land, with projects located in Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Palawan, Boracay, Cavite and Batangas.
“As of second quarter 2024, these developers’ projects are priced between P175,000 and P590,000 per square meter with takeup rates ranging between 43 percent and 100 percent,” Bondoc said.
Some are not only launching standalone residential developments but also leisure-themed integrated communities as well as condotels, he added.
Megaworld announced the launch of Ilocandia Coastown, a beachside township in Ilocos Norte. It will also be developing Lialto, a beachside golf estate in Batangas.
Other developments in the pipeline include Ayala Land’s Arillo, a mountainside estate in Batangas; Brittany’s Bern Baguio, a mountainside condominium in Benguet; DMCI Homes’ Moncello Crest, a condotel in Baguio; and AppleOne Group’s JW Marriott Residences Panglao, a beachfront condotel in Bohol, Bondoc said.
He said developers are ramping up launches in areas outside of Metro Manila to offset the tepid demand in the metro.
“From 2021 to 2023, we recorded an average growth of between 30 percent and an astounding 3,000 percent condominium launches in select provinces in these regions — Cala, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Davao Region — with take-up growing from 17 percent to 445 percent,” Bondoc said.
Horizontal projects, or house-and-lot and lot only, posted a growth of between 15 percent and 138 percent in launches, while take-up grew from 3 percent to 60 percent in 2023 compared to 2021, he added.
“Results from our previous surveys show that provinces in these areas are among the most preferred by respondents for their next residential investment. These regions are also among the major recipients of remittances from Filipinos working abroad, covering more than half of the 2.16 million deployed Filipino workers in 2023 and this should partly support the stable demand for residential end-use,” Bondoc said.
According to Bondoc, preselling of Metro Manila condominium projects remains lackluster, with a sizable number of unsold condominium units in inventory.
“Developers are launching less while testing the demand for leisure-oriented developments in growth areas outside Metro Manila,” he said.
