Pandemic changes market’s preferences and business operations

THE ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis has brought changes in preferences of the local residential market, according to property experts.

Per the latest installment of Lamudi’s The Outlook Roundtable Series dubbed “On the Horizon: Real Estate Leaders on Market Recovery,” many of the homebuyers are found prioritizing convenience, technology, and health safety when they lease or purchase a place to dwell in. 

Technology-wise, Torre Lorenzo Development Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tomas Lorenzo noted that fast Internet connection draws interest in residential buildings from many house hunters, particularly in the student market segment. 

This holds true in Lamudi’s earlier report on a big consideration in connectivity amenities among aspiring homeowners.

On the other hand, Imperial Homes Group of Companies Group Chair and CEO Emma Imperial cited that the tech preference of property seekers, like in the case of their projects, comes in the form of stronger attention for solar-powered homes. 

Proof of which is the sales growth experienced by her company two months after the lockdown started mid-March of this year. She said: “The sales reached 40 percent higher than our pre-Covid performance.”

Conscious about their well-being, potential homebuyers have been considering healthy buildings in their choices, shared Colliers International Philippines Senior Research Manager Joey Bondoc. 

“It’s very important now that you are in a building where there’s enough sanitation, enough sunlight. If you’re in a condo, you have to make sure that your property manager is implementing enough safety protocols,” he said.

Bondoc added that investors, especially overseas Filipino workers, are searching for bigger spaces given the social distancing measures against the virulent illness.

Raphael Felix, chairman of the Board of Subdivision and Housing Developers Association and president and CEO of Phinma Properties, pointed out that millennials have been lately engaged in the real-estate scene.

“We used to have an average age of 30 to 40. Our 20- to 30-year-old market segment has doubled in the last three months,” he explained.

The market’s liking for location, likewise, has become likely evident. In fact, Bondoc said that businesses are expanding to Cebu, Iloilo and Pampanga.

Meanwhile, future homeowners opt to reside in provincial cities, particularly the affordable segment. 

“We’re very pleased that the demand is coming from a lot of regional markets, like Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete,” Cebu Landmasters Inc. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Franco Soberano said of the notable takeup on their projects. “These regional centers are the first to bounce back from the crisis.”

To cater to the changing demands of the buyers amid the pandemic, industry players have to transform also their internal operations.

“Digital transformation has been forced upon us,” D.M. Wenceslao Vice President (VP) for Corporate Planning Julius Guevarra said, while acknowledging that online solutions are a must now to sustain their operations.

For Damosa Land VP Cary Lagdameo, virtual staging has become the main element of their marketing campaign during the lockdown. And as the community quarantine measures were relaxed in August, they were able to shoot broker-guided tours.

“During the pandemic and the stringent lockdowns, many have seen the value of living in mixed-use developments or at least being near and having easy access to groceries, banks, offices and medical facilities,” said Tek Samaniego, editor of Philippine Daily Inquirer Property.

Robinsons Homes has explored other types of content to connect with buyers. Mico Racelis, the firm’s business unit general manager (BUGM), said: “We’ve innovated on how we can reach out to them in terms of the remote arrangement we have right now. We’re actually creating tools to do that, like for example, we’ve started doing drone shots for all our provincial developments.”

Confronted by the unprecedented health emergency, having the right attitude in these difficult times is one way for real-estate companies to survive this pandemic.

“If we believe that the crisis will just end without any intervention that will not happen. We shouldn’t put them aside. We should confront them and react accordingly,” said Robinsons Land Corp. BUGM Henry Yap.

Underscoring the importance of looking back at past experiences, he stressed that the learnings can help make informed decisions during crises.

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Article originally posted by Business Mirror last September 29, 2020 6:00am and written by Roderick Abad.

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