While several locations in the Metro Manila property market continue to be challenged with high vacancy levels both in the office and residential sectors, areas outside the country’s capital are telling a different story as opportunities are rising amid the shift to suburbia.
In a media briefing earlier this week, Colliers Philippines director for research Joey Roi Bondoc highlighted that there is an ongoing “shift to suburbia” with the rise of opportunities in areas outside Metro Manila that were once not ideal for condominium and office projects.
“Suburbia, meaning the proliferation of the developments in the key areas outside of the metro, the suburban. So, for example, these areas were previously not ideal for office spaces, condominiums, or luxury lot-only projects. But right now, they are becoming more ideal for these types of developments. One example outside of Metro Manila, a very easy example and pretty hard to miss, is Cavite,” Bondoc said.
He explained that for the longest time, Cavite used to serve as a bedroom community for some employees working in the metro who travel from Cavite all the way to Metro Manila, and then back to Cavite after their nine-to-five shift.
“But what we’re seeing in Cavite right now are townships and integrated communities proliferating in the province. So that’s one shift to suburbia that we have seen,” Bondoc said.
He also cited Pampanga as another area, noting that a lot of major developers already have projects in locations such as San Fernando and Angeles City.
“Just so you know, there’s a shift happening in suburbia—a more aggressive expansion into locations that national developers previously bypassed in favor of Metro Manila. But given that we’re seeing some slow down in some locations in the metro, developers are looking at other ideal spots, therefore highlighting this shift to suburbia that we have been seeing right now,” Bondoc said.
Aligned with this shift to suburbia, Bondoc highlighted that leisure-centric projects outside Metro Manila are performing well.
“Leisure-centric developments, such as condotels, remain highly aggressive. For some developers, while their Metro Manila projects are experiencing relatively slow take-up, launches in areas like Batangas, Laguna, Cebu, Bacolod, and Iloilo—when marketed and positioned as condotels or leisure-centric properties—perform exceptionally well. I believe this is a strategy developers will be aggressively implementing moving forward,” Bondoc said.
As an example, Bondoc cited a project of DMCI, the Solmera Coast in Batangas which is already 92 percent sold compared to its Fortis Residence in the Makati Fringe area which is only 21 percent sold.
Additionally, SMDC’s Now Residences in Pampanga is 100 percent sold while its Jade Residences project, also in the Makati Fringe area, is only 23 percent sold.
“So it only emphasizes the fact that geographic diversification is crucial now for developers to tap demand outside of the metro and cash in on this thriving opportunity for resort or leisure-themed developments. When they launch a project in Makati, it reports a slow take-up but when they launch projects in Pampanga and Laguna, those projects are recording very strong take-up,” Bondoc said.
Meanwhile, the Colliers official also emphasized that there is a strong demand for golf communities outside of Metro Manila, with developers aggressively launching and featuring golf courses that complement their residential projects.
Some examples of these projects include Megaworld’s Lialto Beach and Golf Estates in Batangas which features an 18-hole golf course. Similarly, Anvaya Cove by Ayala Land in Bataan and Villar City in Cavite to Las Pinas also feature golf courses.
Aside from golf communities, developers are also integrating wellness features into their developments, according to Bondoc.
“I think this is a buzzword right now that developers are really backing on. They’re launching resort or leisure-themed developments not just on a whim; they’re complementing their projects with wellness-centric developments,” Bondoc said.
Moreover, Bondoc pointed out that the shift to suburbia is also happening in the office market as seen with more business process outsourcing (BPO) firms locating outside the National Capital Region (NCR) to get their share of the skilled workforce in the area.
“It is interesting that the shift to suburbia across the property sector is not limited to the residential space. Even in the office sector, the trend is becoming more pronounced. BPO companies, despite expanding, are choosing to establish operations in these areas to tap into the highly skilled workforce and fresh graduates that these cities produce each year,” Bondoc said.
