Demand for Second Homes, Influx of Students Prop Up Condo Market

By Mia A. Aznar
Sunday, February 6, 2011

WITH almost all of its units sold, a condominium project at the Asiatown IT Park is expected to turn over its units to buyers by the last quarter of this year.

Cebu Landmasters Inc. president Jose Soberano III told reporters recently that the Asia Premier residences are 95 percent sold.

Of the 88 units targeted for the upper-mid and high-end market, only four are left.

The 17-story residential condominium is Cebu Landmasters’ first condominium project.

It is also behind the San Josemaria Villages in the towns of Balamban and Minglanilla and the cities of Toledo and Talisay.

Soberano said that once they turn over their units, they will be the first residence
to operate in the area.

Despite the many condominium projects sprouting around Cebu City, he is confident the market is still open for more, saying there are many businessmen from the far towns and other provinces who are looking for second homes in the urban area.

Aside from doing business, he said many of them have children who study in Cebu. He added that overseas Filipino workers are keen on investing their earnings in real estate.

While he acknowledged that there are many developers building condominium projects, he said they will be adding to the healthy competition.

He recently launched a joint venture with Riasjac Development Corp. to build One Baseline Place within the Baseline Complex in Juana Osmeña, a 16-story condominium project with studio and one-bedroom units. This is for the middle to upper-middle market.

They expect to start selling their units by June, although he said they are accepting letters of intent from interested buyers so they can prioritize them once they are ready to start selling.

Aside from this, he revealed they are eyeing two more vertical projects in the next two years.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on February 07, 2011.