Cebuanos buying trend shifts towards high-end

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu is catching up with Metro Manila in terms of purchasing power, as many Cebuanos are now buying middle-range to high-end properties.

This is the observation made by Colliers International Philippines’ Joey Roi Bondoc, senior research manager, explaining that more Cebuano property buyers are now choosing to buy properties that are priced within P3.2 million to P6 million.

Unlike in the past, bulk of buyers settled in the P1.7 million to P3.2 million segment. Today, the preference has shifted to more expensive properties, Bondoc said.

The improved purchasing power among Cebuanos, Bondoc said may be due to sustained or increasing flow of remittances money, and the presence of multinational companies that offer good salary packages.

He mentioned the growing number of KPO (knowledge process outsourcing), which give higher salary packages in the BPO sector.

In an interview with Bondoc, he said that Colliers noted a significant improvement of Cebuanos’ buying choices, and it already matches with Metro Manila.

“Households are becoming more discerning in terms of preference,” he added.

With this observation, Bondoc recommends that developers should build more condominium units within the middle to mid-higher segment because the demand is growing in this area.

Aside from Cebuanos, tourists are also starting to be a good market for condominium units, as more Chinese, Japanese and Korean nationals are buying condominium properties in Cebu.