Davao’s thriving real estate backed by strong economy

DAVAO. Panelists and special guests. (From left to right) Jose Romarx Salas, director for Global Research and Business Development in Asia-Pacific Region of Leading RE; John Carlo Tria, president of Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shiela Lobien, CEO of Lobien Realty Group; Maria Luisa R. Abaya, president of Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations(CREBA)-Davao Chapter; Elizabeth Ventura, president of Anchor Land; Stephanie Morales Tujan, radio host and SunStar columnist; Roberto Marco Samson, section head of Business Development of First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp.(Mindanao); and Arwin Tolentino, director for Training, Career, Management and Development Department of Anchor Land. (Contributed photo)
DAVAO. Panelists and special guests. (From left to right) Jose Romarx Salas, director for Global Research and Business Development in Asia-Pacific Region of Leading RE; John Carlo Tria, president of Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shiela Lobien, CEO of Lobien Realty Group; Maria Luisa R. Abaya, president of Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations(CREBA)-Davao Chapter; Elizabeth Ventura, president of Anchor Land; Stephanie Morales Tujan, radio host and SunStar columnist; Roberto Marco Samson, section head of Business Development of First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp.(Mindanao); and Arwin Tolentino, director for Training, Career, Management and Development Department of Anchor Land. (Contributed photo)

DAVAO’S topnotch broker groups and real estate sellers convened at the recently held 2020 Real Estate Trends forum held on February 12 at Marco Polo Davao, Davao City.

Organized by Anchor Land, the forum is part of the developer’s collaborative efforts in equipping the brokers and sellers with up-to-date information about Davao’s real estate industry where attractive investment opportunities have begun to rise.

Anchor Land has partnered with leaders from various sectors to provide key insights about the rapidly flourishing activities in Davao region.

Infrastructures to spur rapid growth

With all the big tickets of infrastructures in the pipeline, Davao is quickly catching up not only to Manila and Cebu, but also to the big cities in other fast-emerging economies. For John Carlo Tria, President of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the improved interconnectivity upon the completion of the infrastructures will spur tremendous growth in the tourism and real estate sectors in the region.

Some of the upcoming major infrastructures in Davao City that are seen to help improve tourism and investment areas include the Samal-Davao bridge project, the Davao City Coastal Bypass Road project, Davao monorail project, and the Davao Sasa wharf modernization project.

“The moment a lot of these new roads are completed, you’ll see a lot more developments which would create more opportunities for the real estate sector,” Tria said.

He further said that these opportunities, which correlate with the fast-growing industry of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions), are bound to create a higher demand for accommodation in Davao.

“You’ll see a peak of demand for hotel rooms... Hotel investments are a good investment for our investors,” Tria said.

Attractive investments in the property sector

In agreement with Tria’s bullish outlook for Davao, Roberto Marco Samson, Section Head of Business Development of First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. in Mindanao, also expressed his optimism for the property sector coming from the perspective of the brokerage industry.

“We are really anticipating that the earnings for this sector will grow for the next few years,” Samson said.

With the rise of property offerings in Davao’s attractive economic setting, he believes that the real estate brokers are able to lead the prospective investors into the best opportunities for them.

Fast growth in the fringes

For Sheila Lobien, CEO of Lobien Realty Group, the demand growth for properties has rippled throughout the country. She believes that the widespread growth reflects the demand surge for office spaces, investments for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), and the rapidly adapting tourism industry. This growth demand seen in Davao has now surfaced in other provinces such as Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, Tarlac, and Pampanga.

“If you look at the history of the Philippine’s real estate market, the last 10 years really you’ll see the growth is phenomenal,” Lobien said.

Lobien also shares a positive foresight for the real estate in general, especially in the residential, office, hotel and warehousing segments.

Property appreciation

Amid the proliferating opportunities in the country’s real estate landscape, Davao stands out for many investors. With a vast agricultural industry in the region, Davao offers a “complete package” of investments, according to Jose Romarx Salas, Director of the Global Research and Business Development of LeadingRE (Asia Pacific Region).

The abundant activities in Davao’s agricultural businesses have largely contributed to the region’s fast-growing economy, resulting in higher value appreciation for properties over time.

According to Salas, it has been a trend among investors to primarily look into the capital appreciation of a property in the long run.

“In two years’ time, three years’ time, tataas ang price, that’s good,” Salas said.

Salas also pointed out a new trend where investors do not only rely on the capital appreciation of their investments, but also on the returns they get when they lease out their properties.

Top trends in the property landscape

Developers continue to reinvent and create new concepts in line with the rapidly changing market in the region.

In hopes of catering to the unbridled demand, upgrades have been provided in their offerings, not only catering to the end-users but also to the property investors.

Location remains a primary consideration for an investment. A prime address adds great value to one’s property, especially when the location of the property is highly accessible and is deemed strategic based on the purpose for use of the property.

Quality comes first for all. But for many property buyers now, they have become more keen about the profitability of their investment.

“From our perspective as a developer, we’ve seen the growing interest of the market in investing in real estate for lucrative opportunities. The trend now is that the buyers would get a property, live in it or turn it into a rental property for income,” Elizabeth Ventura, President of Anchor Land, said.

With this new insight about the market, Davao will see the rise of properties that are purposefully planned based on the behavior trends of the buyers.

“This is why we came up with 202 Peaklane’s Serviced Residences, which will offer units designed as hotel rooms. Through a lease agreement with the hotel operator that will manage our serviced residences, the unit owners will be able to get a steady source of income,” Ventura said.

Driven by the gap

These new concepts that have been introduced in Davao are largely derived from the widening gap between the continued growth in tourist arrivals and the lack of hotel rooms to accommodate the demand.

Based on Prime Philippine’s recent study, Davao has seen 2.2 million tourists from January to June 2019 alone, and there are only about 2,850 first class and deluxe hotel rooms supply in the region in 2019.

This unmet demand in the tourism sector has, in fact, provided the real estate and property sector new opportunities for immense growth in the coming years.

“Marami pa ring domestic tourists that comes to Davao... We are being groomed as a MICE destination. With events like MICECon in September and NatCon in 2020, being hosted by Davao, we still see an increased number of international flights... There had been a lot of international flights direct to Davao,” Maria Luisa Abaya, President of Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (Creba)-Davao Chapter, said. (PR)

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