Housing projects to increase in 2008

Due to positive economic activities of the previous year, a construction industry official is optimistic that housing projects this 2008 will continue to increase making way for a more promising year for the real estate and the construction sectors.

In a recent interview, president of the Cebu Contractor’s Association, Inc. Charles T. Sy pointed out that 2007 has been a much better year in terms of economic activity for the real estate sector. He added that not only were tourism-based infrastructure has its peak last year but also housing and commercial developments.

A significant increase has been felt as more investors have invested in real properties especially on housing.

  “The real estate has been up due to stable real property prizes. It used to be weak but last year it was at its peak.”

Sy said that Cebuanos these days can afford a one million peso earmark for a particular housing unit.

But he stressed that although some may now afford a unit worth more than a million or several millions of pesos, this does not definitely mean that the rest of the populace is able to afford it. This means that high-end housing development is not yet such a bankable venture these days although it is starting to slowly peak up.

“The term high-end should be defined. What is termed as high-end in Metro Manila may not be the high-end that we have here in Cebu because there is still a disparity between the two cities in terms of economic points of view.”

He discussed that even with the level of urbanism that Cebu has achieved so far driven by the robust economic activity in the area in the previous year, condo housing is still unaffordable for the huge majority of the Cebuano populace. He cited that condo development projects that have been earlier undertaken in the city have not really been so far that successfully yet proven from its low occupancy rate.

“The spending power of the typical Cebuanos has definitely increased and there are a lot of people who can afford high-end housing units now, but this is not the majority.” – Rhia de Pablo