Condominium market in Cebu still growing

 The condominium market in Cebu is growing, according to big name real estate developers.

Jerry Quintos, Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc. head of finance, said most buyers of their units were overseas Filipino workers who view real estate as a good investment.

Sta. Luica just launched La Mirada, its second condominium project after The Sentinel. Of 150 units “we have already sold 30 percent or at least 45 units,” Quintos said during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Vistamar Sotto Grande, one of Sta. Lucia’s properties in Cebu.

The demand for condominiums led the company to decide to put up similar projects like one in Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City, which they hope to start mid-2010.

It will be a residential condominium with a beach club.

“We already have a name for it: Discovery Bay. It will be a 500-hectare wide area with three condominium buildings,” he said.

Quintos said Sta. Lucia is bullish about Cebu because the province is second to Manila in terms of sales and sometimes equals Manila sales figures.

Cebu-based real estate developer Primary Homes has also ventured into condominium projects with Woodcrest Residences in Guadalupe, Cebu.

In a statement, Primary Homes sales manager Ramero Espina said that real estate growth was focused in south Cebu, especially with the opening of the South Road Properties.

Woodcrest Residences is the first condominium project in the city to cater to the mid-end market, he said.

Another real estate developer, Aboitizland, is developing a 1.4-hectare village or urban development project, the Persimmon, in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

The project has four-15 story condominium towers, with each tower made up of at least 150 rooms.

Andoni Aboitiz, chief operations officer of Aboitizland, in an earlier interview, said 154 of the 157 units in the West Tower had already been sold to clients.

“Eighty percent of our sales in the West Tower of The Persimmon are from the local market,” said Andoni.

He said 50 percent of the West Tower clients were investors and the rest were those who plan to use the units as their homes.

Jose Soberano, president of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders' Association Cebu Chapter, said the rise of condominium projects in Cebu was a consequence of recent developments in the city.

“Because the city has developed already with limited space available, we expect more vertical developments like residential condominium projects,” he said.

The trend could decongest Cebu as people would live closer to places of work and entertainment.

“Students whose parents can afford it would prefer to live in condominium units soon instead of a boarding house,” he said.

Soberano announced that his firm would be developing a high-end condominium project at the Asiatown I.T. Park.

This would target management officers of companies in the area as well as OFWs and expats.

Although it’s a good sign of development, Soberano said that Cebu still had a long way to go compared to Asian neighbors like Hong Kong and Thailand in terms of growth in the real estate industry.