Ayala Land upbeat on property sector

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is upbeat on the property sector this year, with most segments expected to grow following a noticeable improvement across all sectors for the past few months.

"We are seeing growths in all segments of the property sector and this growth will be sustained. Though we can not quantify the growth right now, suffice to say that growths are being felt by every player in the property industry," ALI president Jim Ayala explained.

"As long as interest rates are kept down, there is a stable economy, there is a good take up rates especially among OFWs, I don’t see why the sector will not grow this year," Ayala added.

Because of the projected growth, Ayala Land is into the development of high leisure projects, condominiums and individual house and lot packages from high end to medium end both in Metro Manila and the provinces.

"We are in fact starting the trend of returning to Manila with our projects in the San Lazaro Hippodrome (its Avida brand project), Alabang and Makati and the mall developments in Greenbelt 5 and North Triangle; expansion of our Serendra housing project in Fort Bonifacio and other developments surrounding Metro Manila," Ayala said.

To further perk up this growth potential, ALI has launched a three-year Homestarter Bond program, which will further expand ALI’s market for its numerous projects.

Homestarter Bond, an Ayala Land pioneering initiative, is aimed at helping prospective homeowners build up funds for down payment of homes offered by Ayala Land and its subsidiaries–Community Innovations and Avida.

BPI Capital Corp is the designated issue manager of the Homestarter Bond that involves monthly investments of P5,000 to P25,000 on a three-year period with a five percent non-compounding interest a year.

The five percent annual interest is payable after three years plus a bonus credit of 10 percent on total principal invested. The credit is added to client’s downpayment on the property of his choice. The program was launched last Feb. 14.

"More often than not, people have the money to amortize their homes over a period of time, say 25 years, but they do not have the downpayment required for owning a house," said Rex A. Mendoza, Ayala Land senior vice president.

Subscribers only need to  go to any Bank of the Philippine Islands branches, open an account where the monthly forced savings of from P5,000 to P25,000 will be put in, explained Mendoza.

With the Homestarter Bond, they will now be forced to set aside from P5,000 to P25,000 a month for the next three years to qualify them to own a house or condo unit worth P1 million to P3 million in any Ayala projects in the country.

Holders of the bond will be given priority in selecting their future homes from any of the existing or ongoing development projects of ALI and its subsidiaries: the Community Innovations and Avida.

"The bond offering is ALI’s way of helping people realize their dreams of owning their homes in any Ayala project based on their forced savings with us. By giving them interest of 9.4 percent annually–the highest interest in any insurance program–we are helping them save more from their present income that they forego using in favor of their dream homes," Mendoza said.

At ALI, we have realized that property development is not just a matter of developing and marketing a piece of property but extending a helping hand to future investors or homeowners in helping them buy their dream homes through some form of joint savings for them and for us, Mendoza said.

"By launching our bonds, we are now expanding the base of our homeowners or any of these housing projects from among the bondholders," Mendoza said.

Ayala’s Avida project in Laguna for instance will cater to the middle market with house and lot packages of P500,000 to P2.5 million. Similar Avida projects are being undertaken in north and south of Manila such as Cavite, Lipa Batangas, Pampanga and Antipolo.

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Ayala Land Inc.
2/F Tower One, Ayala Triangle
Ayala Avenue, Makati City
Phone : 8415501