THE condominium segment in Bacolod City is still in its early stages, but Colliers Philippines sees both demand and supply rising once various township projects by national players are completed.
The global real property services company on Monday, June 13, 2022, reported that the demand for houses and lots remains strong as it is buoyed by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as well as local and foreign investors.
Colliers Philippines said developers should be quick in cashing in on residential opportunities by converting brownfield properties such as the old airport into mixed-use communities; exploring land around the fringes of Bacolod City; aggressively developing affordable and economic house and lot units; and acquiring developable land near planned infrastructure projects.
The firm is optimistic that Bacolod City’s residential market will grow beyond 2022 and as the Philippines recovers from the pandemic.
Its head of research and associate director, Joey Roi Bondoc, said the Negros Occidental capital city’s residential segment is dominated by house and lots.
Bondoc said the preference for house and lot is strong as city residents and investors still prefer larger open spaces.
“The condominium segment is still small, but we expect launches and completions to pick up slightly over the next three to five years upon the development of major townships across the city,” he added.
With this, Colliers encourages developers to look for properties that can be acquired and redeveloped into residential communities.
An example is the former site of the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company on the east side of Bacolod City where Megaworld Corp. is planning to build its Upper East township.
The firm said a potential site is the current Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) Port area that the government is planning to transform into a mixed-use property for feature offices and condominium projects.
Colliers believed that the location of the old Bacolod airport could also be redeveloped into a mixed-use community.
“We encourage developers to further assess the site’s viability for house and lot and mid-rise condominium projects. In our opinion, developers should consider the redeveloped Lahug property in Cebu as an example,” it said, adding that “the former location of the Cebu Airport is now a bustling Information Technology (IT) park housing office, residential, and retail towers.”
Moreover, Colliers believed that Bacolod City will likely remain an attractive location for house and lot and condominium projects. But a more aggressive launch of residential projects in the city pushes developers to look for alternative sites.
“In our opinion, other feasible sites for residential developments are the cities of Talisay, Murcia, and La Carlota,” the company said.
Colliers is also encouraging residential developers to maximize the construction of key infrastructure projects connecting Bacolod City to other key urban areas in the Visayas group of islands.
According to them, developers should start acquiring parcels of land near the proposed Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu Link Bridge. Developers should also look at viable sites around the municipalities of Pulupandan, Valladolid, and San Enrique.
Bondoc further said that condominium units are becoming an attractive investment option for OFWs and local businessmen.
These unit owners are anticipating the condominium projects’ potential for leasing once they have been completed, Bondoc said.
“In our opinion, the BPO sector will probably continue to be a driver of condominium leasing in Bacolod City,” he said, adding that “foreign employees as well as higher-earning local outsourcing workers are among the targeted occupants while local businessmen are among the targeted investors.”