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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Real estate boom makes Cebu viable for locators
By Aurelia l. Castro
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Despite the results of a study that excluded Cebu City from the list of the most viable business sites in the country, its booming real estate industry shows that it is still the “best option” for locators, an official of the Cebu Realtors Board (Cereb) said yesterday.
Tom Academia, the new president of Cereb, said Cebu remains an attractive destination. However, he admitted that the cities in the whole province continues to lack hotels and condominiums to accommodate the influx of guests.
“But aside from that, there’s a big requirement now for beach resorts in Cebu,” he said.
Cebu City was excluded in the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center list of 20 Most Viable Business Sites in the country based on its recent survey.
However, Cereb, which now has close to 150 members, will continue to promote Cebu.
“For this year, we will initiate efforts to expose realtors in the market, establish a network of developers, and let the community know that the realtors are here to serve them and help them with their real estate needs,” he said.
On the other hand, Virginia Locson, vice president of the Philippine Association of Realtors Board Inc.–Visayas, said the boom in the country’s tourism helped promote the real estate business.
Promotions
“Cebu became well-advertised. Now, we’re getting a lot of inquiries for residential properties from people who want to relocate in Cebu,” she said.
The use of Internet in promoting Cebu also helped realtors to have a bigger market, she said.
Last weekend, Garces Rental and Property Management Corp. and Garces Realty launched the Philippine Real Estate Portal, an Internet-based tool for real estate marketing, in a bid to help realtors become globally and locally competitive.
In a separate interview, Jose Mari Cañizares, former president of United Architects of the Philippines-Cebu Chapter, said the current year looks better for the architects with more projects coming as the city’s real estate industry is “picking up” again.
But he commented: “We don’t have enough sidewalks. It’s what the tourists miss and look for when they come to Cebu.”
Cañizares is an awardee of the Professional Regulations Commission in 2003 as “Outstanding Professional of the Year 2003 in the Field of Architecture,” with a record of constructing at least 50 buildings and 200 residential houses nationwide.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 22, 2006 issue)
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