Monday, 05 April 2010 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]

BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR Senior Reporter

A STRING of project launches in the fourth quarter of last year in the high-end residential segment, as well as expansion outside Metro Manila particularly of mall developments have signaled a return of investors’ confidence, according to Colliers International Research.

In its latest Philippine market overview, the property research firm said land values are expected to stabilize over the first half of this year.

It said a falling commercial market resulted in a continued decline in implied land values last year.

Average land values in Makati central business district (CBD) were P273,000 per square meter (sqm) in the fourth quarter, a further 2.8-percent decline over the third quarter.

At the Ortigas CBD, land values were down by 1.95 percent to P96,040 in the fourth quarter.

In Bonifacio Global City (BGC), lots were priced at P140,000 per sqm, or P14,000 per developable sqm.

Robinsons Land announced its first residential project in Makati CBD—Signa Residences—as a signal of their entry to the luxury segment.

Ayala Land also launched the Park Terraces project as its first residential project in the redevelopment plan of Ayala Center.

Rockwell Land also announced its upcoming project Edades Tower, while ArthaLand announced the launch of its first residential project in BGC, Arya Residences and the Campos-led Greenfield Development Corp. launched its maiden residential project in EDSA Central—Twin Oaks Place.

”These projects are all targeting the high-end segment of the market. By the look of this, most developers are willing to leave behind a sluggish first half of 2009 . . . these developers are looking ahead to capture demand as confidence returns to the market,” Colliers said.

The research firm said most of the retail players are also expanding outside Metro Manila.

The report said seven new malls were completed in the provinces as of last year.

With the addition of 186,500 sqm of retail space in other parts of the country, Colliers said the Philippines now has 7,355,300 sqm of retail space covering around 200 major malls.

”Clearly the focus right now for major retail players is to build and expand outside Metro Manila with building activity in Metro Manila focusing on expansion and community scale shopping centers,” Colliers said.

Metro Manila-wide mall vacancy continued to fall to 9.2 percent at end-2009 compared with 13.5 percent the year before.

”In the face of a limited supply pipeline, this decline is expected to continue through 2010,” Colliers said.

Average rents for Ayala Center in Makati are at P1,250 per sqm and a high of P1,500 per sqm for the best units. In the Ortigas Center, average mall rents are P1,050 per sqm with a high of P1,400 per sqm for premium units.