THE residential condo market in the key districts of Metro Manila is exhibiting sideways demand amid a backdrop of increasing supply and a weakening economy, according to an industry report presented last week by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu at a housing finance forum organized by Home Guaranty Corp.
The flattening demand for residential condos is the lone cloud in an otherwise sunny presentation by the multinational property consultant on the explosive growth of the condominium and real estate market in the country.
In Metro Manila, about 24,000 residential and office condo units are being added yearly from now until 2015, twice the average growth rate in the last four years, Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu said.
Just to put the industry in a historical perspective, the present growth rate was 10 times the average from 1999 to 2006, when only 2,400 condo units a year were being built, the report noted.
About 34,000 residential condo units are in various stages of pre-development and construction from now until 2015, mainly in Makati, The Fort, Quezon City, Manila and Bay City, and Ortigas/Pasig/Mandaluyong area. These units would cost anywhere from P1.5 million to P10 million.
As to the high-end side of the market, defined by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu as a condo costing over P10 million, there would be no additional supply in the next four years, except the 3,700 units already under way.
The Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu survey did not identify the high-end condos, but the apex of this rarefied segment are occupied by the 236-unit Raffles Residences and the 68-story Discovery Primea, whose 90 apartments come in 382 square meters or 680-sq. m. sizes.
The race to the market has also triggered a tectonic shift among the industry players, with previously cellar-dwelling SM Development Corp. grabbing the condo market leadership from long-term leader Megaworld Corp.
From 4 percent market share, SMDC rocketed to 24 percent this year, as Megaworld slipped down to 20 percent. –Victor C. Agustin, Manila Standard Today
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