CONDOMINIUM developments in Cebu are expanding beyond the city center as demand for vertical housing continues to rise.
Besides the usual locations — Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City — developers are encouraged to consider building residential condo projects in other alternative sites, such as Talisay City, Liloan and Minglanilla, where local economies are also exhibiting growth.
“We see Cebu reaping the benefits of a recovering property market… It is well-prepared to capture the demand post-Covid,” said property advisory Colliers Philippines
It said the improving sentiment from businesses and individual investors and end-users is supporting the residential sector’s growth.
Tower 3 launched
This growth opportunity has pushed homegrown real estate developer Nexus Real Estate Corp. to begin the construction of Tower 3 of Antara Residences in Talisay City, following the successes of Towers 1 and 2.
Tower 3, according to Nexus chief executive officer Shanna Louise Lopez, is the latest addition to the master-planned multi-tower Balinese-inspired residential and recreational development Antara Residences that is designed to offer “a refreshing sanctuary amid the bustling city life.”
Antara sits on a 3.2-hectare property on Talisay City’s hills where 70 percent of the development is dedicated to open spaces. The project boasts five towers that can be used for residential, hospitality, office and industrial units.
Antara’s Tower 1 has 170 units while Tower 2 has 218 units.
The 14-story Tower 3, which will have 245 units, offers studio units with sizes ranging from 25 to 30 square meters, one-bedroom units (35 to 48 square meters) and two-bedroom units at 80 square meters. These units are priced from P4.2 million to P17 million.
Tower 3 will be turned over to unit owners in 2028.
Antara’s amenities include pavilions and chapel/multi-purpose hall with garden, wading/kiddie pool, tiered jacuzzis and adult infinity pool, outdoor lounge and daybeds, nine-hole mini golf course and dog park, jogging trail, kid’s playground and wellness and leisure center, among others.
Condo take-up in 2023
In 2023, Colliers recorded the take-up of 5,620 condominium units in Cebu, down 33 percent year-on-year. The affordable to lower mid-income projects (P2.5 million to P7 million) accounted for about 62 percent of total condominium units sold in the pre-selling market during the year.
Colliers said the demand for these segments is partly sustained by investors who plan to rent out their units to outsourcing employees. Cebu Province cornered 83,800 square meters of outsourcing office space deals, or more than 50 percent of total transactions outside Metro Manila in 2023. These segments should also receive sustained demand from local investors as well as Filipinos working abroad looking for viable investment options.
The affordable to lower mid-income segments also dominated the take-up for house-and-lot projects in Cebu, accounting for 55 percent of horizontal units sold in 2023. Colliers said the take-up for these units is also supported by remittance-receiving households, especially as Cebu is part of the Central Visayas region, one of the top sources of deployed overseas Filipino workers in 2022. / KOC