PROPERTY developer AppleOne is banking on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the United States in selling their units in Banawa, Cebu City.
Barbara Cabo, senior vice president of AppleOne, said their roadshows in the U.S. contributed to the selling of 85 percent of their available units.
"We're about 85 percent sold, so 15 percent remaining inventory. We're hoping to complete the project by 2021 to turn over everything," Cabo said.
AppleOne Banawa Heights consists of three 12-story towers, six three-story mansionettes and 10 four-story villas.
Cabo said their buyer profiles include young professionals who are based in the U.S. and other OFWs who want to secure a home for their families in the future.
"It depends on the product type. For the mansionettes, it's more of the professionals like doctors and lawyers. On the tower side, it's more of the same profession but U.S.-based," Cabo said.
Lilian Fauskanger, sales director of AppleOne, said they do roadshows abroad which target OFWs.
"We reach out to them to give justice to their hardwork overseas so that they will have a home ready for them by the time they return here. Most of our buyers are from abroad," she said.
Those who bought the mansionette types, Fauskanger said, are mostly OFWs who are looking into retiring in Cebu.
More than 50 percent of their buyer profile are OFWs in the U.S. from their roadshows in California, Florida and New York, she said.
"We check what state has huge concentration of OFWs for our roadshows. Most of the Filipinos we meet there would refer us through word of mouth to their friends and relatives and that expands our market," she said.
Most of their buyers are from the Visayas and some from Mindanao.
The 2.8-hectare property is at 65 percent in its development with an overall target of more than 1,400 units for the whole project.
Cabo said the prospects of middle-end housing is still promising.
"Per latest Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board data, we still lack a lot of housing," she said.
AppleOne Banawa Heights, which was launched in 2013, has a total of P4 billion investment and is expected to contribute $89.5 million in sales when fully sold. (JOB)