By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated March 3, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The condominium
builder of mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. is creating a
marketing arm for its ready-for-occupancy (RFO) residential units.
A maximum of 20 percent of the SM Development
Corp.’s condominium units will be set aside for the niche market, an official
said.
“We’ll create a separate unit for
RFO...It’s a different package altogether,” said Aye Luna, assistant
vice-president for marketing of SMDC.
While SMDC customers are used to
acquiring residential units through pre-selling, the company is introducing RFO
units for those who want to quickly move in, Luna said.
“So now, since we’re catering to a
different set of market because there are people who don’t buy unless they see
the unit,” Luna said.
In 2013, real estate sales of umbrella
property firm SM Prime Holdings Inc. reached P20.78 billion. SMDC, for its
part, launched three projects: Grass Phase 2, Shore and Trees Residences.
Luna said SMDC will set aside 10-20
percent of total residential units per tower and sell it as RFO units.
“These are brand new units. We can
sell it but we are putting more add-ons to it,” Luna said, adding that SMDC
will hold on to such units to derive higher selling value.
SMDC, one of the top condominium
builders in the country, is turning over seven projects this year including
units at the Chateau Elysee, Field Residences, Mezza Residences, Berkeley
Residences and WindResidences.
For this year, SMDC committed to spend
as much as P18 billion as it launches four new residential projects to cater to
continuously growing demand.
SMDC will offer 11,000 new residential
units this year, up from 10,000 in 2013.
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