Philtown allots P3.5B for new housing projects

Philtown Properties Inc., one of the country’s growing real estate developers, is set to invest P3.5 billion next year for the development of new housing facilities in Batangas and Laguna.

“We are setting aside P3.5 billion for the development of new projects,”Christopher U. Vergara, Philtown executive vice president told The Star in an interview.

Vergara said the company will develop their existing properties in Calamba, Laguna and Batangas into subdivisions.

He said there is still a market for real estate in spite of the slowdown in the global economy.

“We will be targeting the middle class because it is a big market and it is still growing. Very few developers are targeting the high end market now,” Vergara explained.

He said their condominium units are priced anywhere between P2 million and P4 million.

Vergara said the middle class is growing because more and more are employed in the business process outsourcing sector (BPO). He said this is the market that they are targeting given the higher disposable income of those employed in this sector.

“These are highly paid employees who are looking for a place to live. We want to cater to them, he said.

Although Philtown is continuing to expand, Vergara said they are also hit by the global financial crisis.

“The multi-national funders are not as keen to enter into joint venture projects especially in real estate. We are not expecting many foreign funded projects,” Vergara said.

This is the reason why the projects set for next year are being funded internally.

Likewise, Vergara said they will not be launching anymore high rise projects for next year. They will be concentrating on their two ongoing projects located in Manila and Quezon City.

Another result of the worldwide economic crunch is the slowdown in sales from the Filipino-American market. Before, this market made up 15 percent of Philtown’s total sales.

“Now our focus is 100 percent local. The Filipinos here are starting to appreciate condominium living,” he explained.