ABOITIZLAND, the real estate arm of the Aboitiz Group, said the shift in consumer preferences for housing from owning condominiums to house and lots due to the Covid-19 pandemic has brought positive numbers to its sales.
David Rafael, president and chief executive officer of AboitizLand Inc., said real estate sales of the company have been encouraging not just during the first quarter of this year but even last year.
“Our 2020 sales actually surpassed 2019. Right now, in the first quarter, we are running 61 percent ahead of the same period last year. One of the factors is that there really is a changing trend in terms of market preference,” he said.
Rafael said because of the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in work from home arrangements and people wanting to have a work-life balance, real estate developers are seeing buyers looking for other options aside from the usual 20 to 25 square meter-high-density condos near their workplaces or in business districts.
“When you consider the hours they spend being at home, why would they buy a P5 to P6 million 25-square-meter condo when they can get a house that’s four or five times the size even if it’s outside the city. It’s one trend. The second trend is that we have infrastructure development that is enhancing connectivity with respect to these areas in what we now call new growth cities,” he said.
With new bridges and roads being built, improved connectivity enhanced the viability in living in emerging areas.
He added there is also a growing preference of people to transact digitally and go contactless because of this pandemic.
“All these three factors are beneficial to AboitizLand. We’ve been a pioneer in ramping up contactless home buying,” he said.
Citing a report, Rafael pointed out that condos suffered price declines of almost nine percent last year versus house and lot and townhouses which appreciated by 16 to 20 percent. (JOB)