Condo developer eyeing the “millennial” market

CEBU, Philippines – A local real estate developer is poised to invest on meeting the growing demand for residential condominium from the growing young professional market.

"We focus so much on attracting the youth, empowering them in providing good investment choice. We saw the need for young professionals to find an urban home that is safe, accessible, and something they can be proudly call their own," said Fiona King of RFK Holdings Inc.

The company, which was founded under the hands-on leadership of the couple tandem — Fiona and Richard Ray "Rere" King, is creating its niche in the highly competitive condominium market in Cebu, by building condo units that will appeal to the modern and young buyers.

About 400 economic-condo units will be built by the company, at least this year, all are priced within the affordable range of the young generation.

In an interview with Fiona, she said that the company will deploy the BLOQ Residences projects in three strategic areas in Cebu — in Banawa, Sikatuna, and Plaridel (in Mandaue City.) This exclude the prior project built by the company, the 126-unit condominium building in Talamban.

The projected 400 units that will be introduced by the company before the end of this year, is valued at P500 million to P600 million.

The company's big come-on, she said is all its units are priced within the affordability price index of young Cebuanos with "big dreams, and small budget."

Unit prices range from P900 million to as high as P2.4 million, with wider bank financing sources, including Pag-IBIG funded purchase deals.

"Cebu is full of real estate choices," said Fiona, adding that the company's direction however is directed towards building more economic-condominium units that appeal to the young, but earning market or the millennials.

This free-spirited, independent, hardworking generation, Fiona believes should be given distinct residential product that understands the sensitivity of their pocket, without sacrificing their strong aspiration for "luxury."

This niche market is going to be the core focus of the company, as it also plans to introduce more projects next year, arousing the interest from the growing millennial buyers.

For many years, Filipino millennials have been considered a hard sell. They are well informed but have little spending power. This is the reason they have been under the radar of many brands and marketers. However, the days of millennials being perceived in this way are quickly coming to an end.

Recent research shows that millennials will soon comprise a demographic segment that will shape the Philippines’ economic future, including the real estate industry.