BIZ BUZZ: Go for gold–or golf!

You may have already heard news of the dwindling demand for residential properties in Metro Manila, but what exactly are developers doing to draw attention back to their condominiums with hundreds of ready-for-occupancy units still without a tenant?

Well, Colliers Philippines points out that there are, actually, developers that have been employing a wise strategy.

Joey Bondoc, research director at the property investment management firm, last week said developers were launching their own golf communities, thus attracting a new—and old—generation of golfers. (You may be familiar with the phrase “golf and country club”—that’s what we’re talking about.)

“In fact, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is highlighting golf as a priority industry,” Bondoc said in a recent press briefing. “So they are now working with private sector players, developers especially, and how they can link up the foreign tourists with these golf communities being launched left and right.”

This may be the reason why developers such as Vista Land and Lifescapes, Megaworld Corp. and Santa Lucia Land have been focusing on developing their golf communities, especially with the DOT expecting 7.7 million tourist arrivals this year alone.

But it’s not all good news.

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Should more developers actually shift to building golf communities—which, arguably, attract individuals with a high net worth—this could drive up the prices of land around Metro Manila, according to Paul Ramirez, Colliers senior director and head of valuation services.

“There will be a lot of demand for big, developable land, raw land, agri-land that will be converted into golf communities,” Ramirez said.

So if the value of land suddenly increases and golf courses start sprouting, we all know the culprit.