Southern cities emerging as new property hotspots

(The Philippine Star) Updated March 24, 2017 – 12:00am http://www.philstar.com/real-estate/2017/03/24/1683937/southern-cities-emerging-new-property-hotspots MANILA, Philippines –  With all due respect, I find it necessary to add my voice to those who have expressed deep concern about your recent pronouncement characterizing the alarm raised by many about China’s brazen incursion in Benham Rise as “nitpicking”. “A compelling mix of opportunities” driven by business process outsourcing (BPO) and overseas Filipino workers has made key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao area a new hotspot for real estate developers, a leading Cebu-based property firm said. Jose Soberano III, president and CEO of Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI), said due to the increasing traffic congestion in these Southern growth centers,  property developers have seen strong demand for housing in these rapidly urbanizing areas. Rather than spend long hours commuting, BPO and other employees in these and other cities are opting for more convenient housing options nearer their places of work, he said. In a 2016 study, research and consultancy firm Colliers affirmed the trend of young professionals seeking to live nearer their places of work by citing the phenomena of rising rents in residential developments around the fringes of the central business districts of Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. With the projected growth of the BPO industry to 1.7 million to 2.1 million full time workers by 2022, Soberano expects the residential condo market to continue its upward trajectory in Cebu and Davao where CLI is set to market even more mid-market and top-end residential condos in its fast-selling formats. In the so-called Next Wave cities like Iloilo, Bacolod and Dumaguete where BPOs are fielding operations in search of new talents and fueling growth and housing demand, CLI is also in the process of expanding their economic housing projects ranging from P800,000 to P1.7 million, carrying its flagship Casa Mira brand. Its most recent Casa Mira Linao economic housing project in Cebu province sold out 725 units in only one month. In addition to BPOs, the remittances of OFWs who desire to acquire real estate in their home country are also driving the growth of the real estate industry in VisMin, Soberano added. CLI, which accounts for the second largest market share or 11 percent of the total supply of residential condominiums in Metro Cebu, recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an application to raise up to P3.8 billion from an initial public offering. In the past 12 years, the company has also accounted for 11,141 residential housing units in 28 developments in various stages of completion. Proceeds will be used to fund the firm’s expansion to the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, which have been experiencing rapid growth rates, and Dumaguete City, among other uses. In fact, CLI’s Mivesa Garden Residences’ 600 units near the Cebu IT Park in Cebu City were fully sold out in three months mostly to young professionals. Mivesa and Midori Residences, a CLI residential condo in Mandaue also highly attractive to office workers, were named the top two fastest selling residential condominium developments in Cebu City in 2016 by Santos Knight Frank. Both cater to the mid-market segment with units that range from P1.8 million to P5 million. The property developer has allocated P12 billion for the development of 11 new projects in 2017 in the identified VisMin hotspots. These will comprise a mix of residential, offices, commercial and hospitality developments. CLI has 14 projects more in the pipeline including prospective ones. In 2016, the company registered a 42.6 percent rise in revenues to P2.19 billion from P1.5 billion in 2015. Rated by Tholons in 2016 as the seventh best outsourcing destination in the globe, Cebu City is expected to continue to be a favored BPO hub. To fill this industry’s and other demand for office space, CLI is completing the top-end baseline HQ office project in a strategic Metro Cebu location and will soon begin construction of Latitude Corporate Center, destined to be a prestige office address for small and large business and BPOs in Cebu Business Park. Meanwhile, CLI will continue to maximize opportunities in Metro Cebu which is seeing strong growth in tourism as well. In the past four years, visitor arrivals have been growing by an average 8.75 per cent.