Condos seen turning pricier outside Metro Manila amid rising demand

MANILA, Philippines — A trend of expensive condominium prices are sweeping across cities outside Metro Manila, so says Colliers Philippines on Wednesday.

The professional services and investment management firm made a case for this in a commentary, indicating developments across Pampanga, Bulacan, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, and Iloilo. 

Colliers noted that condominium prices in these areas range from P185,000 to P262,000 per square meters. 

This development comes at an interesting point for the domestic real estate market, which will need to come to terms with expensive borrowing costs that could dampen consumer uptake. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas already indicated some softening in home loan growth, a clear impact of rising interest rates injected to tame consumer inflation.

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Despite this, Colliers noted that condo living is gaining popular renown owing to “rising purchasing power of investors and end-users.”

“Offering luxury condominium units in key areas outside of the capital region will be more pronounced beyond 2023 and we see an aggressive differentiation amongst property firms’ projects moving forward,” said Joey Roi Bondoc, research director at Colliers Philippines. 

Luxury real estate in the country was able to weather the pandemic, as some consumer appetite for these properties remained steady since 2020. 

To this end, the investment management firm recommends developers assess the viability of launching properties of this kind. Colliers noted that most of these real estates were built inside township developments.

They noted that developers should look to upgrade amenities to differentiate these projects within the selling market, as well as partnering with homegrown developers, even local government units, to be able to widen its reach. 

“Developers should be on the lookout for areas ripe for luxury developments. Securing first-mover advantage will be crucial,” Bondoc added. — Ramon Royandoyan