Posted on
August 07, 2013 10:41:15 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DAVAO CITY --
Southern Mindanao’s middle class has started to seek bigger lot sizes -- a
demand major property developers have begun to address, according to officials
of two such companies.
Marlon Nino B. Escalicas, manager of Camella
Communities-Davao, a subsidiary of Villar-led Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.,
said in a recent telephone interview that many buyers of the company’s projects
here have been looking for properties measuring at least 220 square meters
(sq.m).
“They
(buyers) are just waiting” for such offerings, Mr. Escalicas said, noting that
Camella Communities has observed such demand not just in this city but also in
Koronadal, Tagum and General Santos cities.
Before this,
he recalled, property firms had been offering house-and-lot packages measuring
120-180 sq.m. worth P2-4 million.
He said
prospective buyers have recently begun seeking lots that could accommodate
landscaping -- a sign of growing market prosperity.
This, he
said, is especially true of families of overseas Filipino workers.
Another
growing market segment the company has been targeting consists of the
self-employed, Mr. Escalicas said.
“Affordability
is just secondary now,” he noted.
Camella
Communities is not the only company that has noticed such demand.
At Fairlane
-- a new seven hectare middle segment to upscale residential project about five
kilometers south of this city’s downtown area -- developer Damosa Land Inc. of
the Aflo Group of Companies has upsized house-and-lot packages to as big as 250
sq.m., said Alex G. Gocotano, project manager.
He said in a
separate interview that the company decided to revise its offerings after
prospective buyers began seeking lots bigger than 200 sq.m. -- CQF
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