Tuesday, 27 July 2010 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]
AYALA Land Inc. (ALI) said its overseas sales rose in the first six months.
Rex Mendoza, ALI chief marketing and sales officer, told reporters that overseas reservations improved by 30 percent to 40 percent.
Overseas sales account for 18 percent to 19 percent of the property developer’s total reservations.
Besides overseas Filipinos, the company’s projects, especially those for the high-end market, are also attracting interest from foreigners, who see a good return of investment in Philippine properties compared to the volatile equity market, Mendoza said.
“When you look at the residential market, people look at the Philippines not just because it’s a nice place to live but because it’s a good investment. Residential properties are a good place to park their money,” said Melissa Gil, Ayala Land Premier head for residential buildings and leisure.
Mendoza said foreign retirees are attracted to stay in the country because of the lower cost of living, citing Singaporeans who bought ALI properties in Bonifacio Global City.
“Owning property in the Philippines is much lower compared to Singapore. Also, looking at the exchange rate of the Singaporean dollar to the peso, a Singaporean dollar has more value here,” he said.
ALI has ramped up its project launches after scaling down its activities in the previous years because of the global economic crisis.
Antonino Aquino, ALI president, said the real estate developer already launched 6,000 units at end-June, more than half of this year’s target of 9,000 units, amid strong demand across all its residential products.
Record sales and bookings from recently launched residential projects pushed ALI’s first-quarter net income by 32 percent to P1.2 billion.
Its shares rose from P14.75 to P14.78 each on Monday.
KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE
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