MIDDLE market segment property developer Contempo Property Holdings Inc. is venturing into mass housing through its affiliate Sunberry Homes, Inc.
SHI chief executive officer Beverly Dayanan said during the official launching of the company that its first project will sit in a 2.5-hectare property in Barangay Soong in Mactan. The project will be named after the company, Sunberry Homes, and will be launched next year.
As a mass housing venture, SHI will focus on developing socialized and economic housing. The price of a socialized housing unit is at P400,000 while an economic housing unit is at P1.25 million.
“The demand is strong (for mass housing). We have to pay attention to this call,” Dayanan said.
The housing backlog for Cebu, according to her, is at 200,000 to 300,000. Nationwide, the country has a backlog of three million.
Demand
“In reality, this is where the demand is coming from. If you look at our market, it is the wider market that needs the low-cost (housing),” she said.
Earlier, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board 7 director Alixes Roy Lopez called on to developers to consider economic housing projects.
Dayanan said there are pocket developers in Cebu that undertake economic housing projects but these are scaled usually in properties that are less than a hectare.
She said that although bulk of the demand is in mass housing developments, developers have to cope with the rising cost of land, construction materials and property tax while making sure that one unit does not exceed the price ceiling of affordable housing.
“It’s not anymore feasible to have that (mass housing projects) in the city... The challenge now is how you balance the cost, given the (increasing) cost of the land, cost of construction materials and increase in property taxes,” Dayanan said.
The Mandaue City government earlier announced that it is set to pass an ordinance updating the city’s schedule of fair market values (SMV) and another ordinance raising business tax rates. By next year, real property owners will have to pay higher taxes if the SMV is increased by 20 to 300 percent, depending on the property’s classification and location.
Dayanan said the increase in property taxes in Mandaue will enable the government to finance more infrastructure projects.
Outside metro
CPHI’s project Bamboo Bay is located in F. Cabahug Street Corner Hernan Cortes in Mandaue City.
Dayanan said SHI is looking into developing mass housing projects in the future outside Metro Cebu, saying the countryside is an ideal place for such projects.
However, she said that the company is considerate of the location where they put up their projects so residents can have convenient access to transportation and their workplace.
Dayanan did not disclose more details of the Sunberry Homes project in Mactan. The company is still in the process of completing the necessary requirements.
SHI has an initial capitalization of P100 million. It opened its office yesterday on the 14th floor of Ayala-Life FGU Tower in the Cebu Business Park.