A real estate investment is the biggest purchase many Filipinos will make in a lifetime. Every year, the growing housing backlog, the majority of which falls under the P3M and below category, is a predicament that aims to be addressed but faces a difficult reality: raw land is scarce and exorbitantly priced in Metro Manila. This reality has even resulted in ‘micro-living spaces’ that seemed like a sound idea then but the pandemic is here and it has changed many of our preferences for good.
Our place of residence used to be dictated by our place of work, school and leisure activities. Many opted to invest in Metro Manila, thinking that it was better to live in tight and congested spaces than consider living outside the big city. But the unthinkable and unexpected has happened and challenged everything we know, including the idea of having to live within Metro Manila.
Southern Luzon, particularly the areas of Laguna and Quezon, are now prime spots that families can consider as a place of residence. What used to be just a budget for an 80-square meter studio unit (without parking) can actually afford a three-bedroom 80-square meter house and lot. Open spaces within the property, much lesser congestion, and yet still easily accessible from Metro Manila, life can now be reimagined beyond four walls of a tight condo unit, crowded elevators, expensive parking slots, and exhausting Manila traffic. Since some cities in the region had significantly less COVID-19 cases, these areas were able to open up and reignite the local economy sooner, making job options more available and SMEs bustling.
I believe that our way of living will never be the same; not because the pandemic will never end, but because the past few months have given us the time to reflect, we are changed and will never be the same.
You can check out some quality real estate options at www.ovialand.com. —PAMMY VITAL
