Developers now eyeing Vismin for expansion

CEBU, Philippines —  Visayas and Mindanao are now considered hotspots for big and small developers, as the provincial locations are seen to drive faster growth for real estate.

According to Filipino Homes founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Anthony Gerard Leuterio, today both local and foreign buyers are most attracted towards provincial properties.

Leuterio, who was one of the resource speakers during the recently concluded National Developers Convention in Cebu City last October 5, 2023, hosted by Subdivision and Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA), said that next year the real estate industry will see more developers to focus on land banking preparing for their aggressive regional expansion.

Leuterio’s forecast is also affirmed by Manila-based developer Wee Community Developers Inc., (Wee Comm) president and founder Cesar Wee saying it was his firm’s decision to venture into regional expansions initially in Davao and Cagayan de Oro that sustained its survival during the pandemic.

According to Wee, it was upon the advice of Leuterio that his company decided to invest outside Metro Manila a few years back.

“I’m rooting for developers to go provincial because there’s a market there,” said Wee, adding that his company is now looking at other sites in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Even with the pandemic, Wee said his company managed to hit the P10 billion mark.

“Provincial expansion works for us. We spread our eggs in different locations, Wee added.

Leuterio mentioned that developers’ favorite expansion playground now include Ormoc, Tacloban, Camarines Sur, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Ozamis, Iligan, General Santos, Zamboanga, Davao, including Cebu.

These are the areas that have market appetite, Leuterio added.

Leuterio also suggested that developers should focus on building houses with prices ranging from P3 million to P4 million.

Likewise, vertical villages or condominium developments  remain the top preference, especially among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“My advice for developers is to build condos that will replace the house and lot, but the price must be mid-range because that is where the bigger pie is today,” he said. A mid-range condo is priced from P120,000 to P135,000 per square meter.