Developer completes condo project for students

CEBU, Philippines - Primary Homes Inc., recently completed its 16-storey residential condominium building in Canduman, Mandaue City.

Targeted for the student market, the condominium building dubbed “Eagle’s Nest” is aptly situated adjacent to Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu.

The 348-unit condominium is the company’s initial offering to provide a decent and secured residential facility for students who live far from their schools or those who are from out of town.         

PHI vice president for sales and marketing Romero Espina said that just like in Manila and other developed urban areas around the world, today parents would opt to buy their own condominium units near the schools of their children rather than rent an apartment or send their children to dormitories.

Parents nowadays are also getting entrepreneurial and owning a unit near a school campus is a good investment as once their children are off from school, they can always have their units rented.

Espina said this is a captured market segment as rental accommodations situated near schools are always profitable because even after the kids have graduated, the parents can still make money from the property by renting it out.

He added that PHI is also looking for other possible areas, near schools and university campuses within Metro Cebu, for the company’s next condominium project.

Eagle's Nest is the seventh condominium project of PHI, which was launched in August 2012. It is now 70 percent sold and all remaining units are now ready for occupancy.

Aside from parents of students at SHS-AdC who bought units from Eagle’s Nest, there is also a growing interest from investors who are taking advantage of the upbeat rental market growth near school zones.       

At Eagle's Nest for instance, studio units can be rented out at P13,000 to P15,000 per month yielding eight percent to 10 percent per year, higher than the average annual rental yield for Philippines property investments.

Based on the globalpropertyguide.com outlook, the Philippines is one of the best places to invest in Asia, with 7.5 percent rental yield, ranking 2nd to Indonesia with 8.9 percent, while next to the Philippines is Cambodia with much lower yield of  5.3 percent. — Ehda M. Dagooc (FREEMAN)