Huge demand-supply gap in Phl real estate industry

MANILA, Philippines - Even in the midst of the booming real estate industry in the country, a developer admitted that there are still more investment opportunities, for players in the field to take advantage of, since the demand for such outweighs the supply.

Taft Property Venture Development Corporation Chief Operating Officer Manuel Colayco said that consciousness on the opportunities in the industry should be highly promoted to respond to the short back in the housing sector.

In his presentation as one of the speakers of the Emerging Industries Forum which is part of the Cebu Business Month 2012, he said that there is a “very big gap” in the demand and supply for the housing segment in the whole country.

He added that in the Philippines, an average supply of less than 200,000 units and a demand for 650,000 units per year were recorded from 2005 to the second quarter of this year.

In metro Cebu, he further cited that there is an annual demand for 20,000 units per year however, with an average total supply for 173 development projects and 80 local developers, 10,000 units are reported for 2012 alone.

Colayco then noted that there is a 52% short fall in the real estate industry for metro Cebu.

“There is already a gap and this is a golden opportunity for investors in Cebu,” he stated.

He also said that in a project inventory with various stages of completion, the average number of units per project is 223.

He added that of all the residential projects currently launched in Cebu, there is a P16 billion-peso investment and a corresponding P2 billion allotted for the real estate taxes.

According to Colayco, a joint venture of the government and the private sector should be recommended to further respond to the market gap.

He said that there should be a creation of a major planning program which is composed of local government unit centralized land use programs and fund-raising programs for the private sector.

He further noted that there is an insufficient zoning in the city, thus advising a proper land distribution for both vertical and horizontal developments.

“We have to put Cebu at par with major cities and be a real estate magnet in the country,” Colayco stated. (FREEMAN)