ALI regains appetite for middle-income residential property dev’t
Recovery in its core middle market segment has encouraged Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) to pursue its first residential high-rise project in this market since the pandemic battered the property sector five years ago.
ALI president and CEO Anna Ma. Margarita Bautista-Dy told reporters that their inventory levels in the long-challenged middle-income segment “are now manageable.”
“Hopefully, this will mean we can start launching new projects again in Avida [Land],” Dy said, referring to the real estate giant’s middle-income residential arm.
ALI has a ready-for-occupancy inventory of 17 months, much lower than the industry average of 37 months, based on data from real estate brokers.
As a result, ALI is encouraged to launch three projects in its core segment in the second semester, including a residential condominium project in Katipunan, Quezon City, under the Avida brand. This will be its first high-rise project since the pandemic.
“Based on initial feedback we’ve been getting, this is a welcome project for the core market,” said Raquel Cruz, ALI core residential group head.
ALI hinted at the new project via its social media pages, teasing about the Quezon City district—dotted with lifestyle malls, schools and restaurants—soon turning “red.”
Despite having no exact launch date yet, Dy ensured that the Katipunan development would be “very different” from Avida’s usual products.
“And I think that’s really what the customers want to see, that you’re constantly improving the product that you’re offering,” she said. “That’s why we’re also eager to launch because we feel we want to bring something new and upgraded to the market.”
Cruz said they would also launch later this year projects at Cresendo Estate in Tarlac and Nuvali in Laguna.
As for efforts to gradually shrink existing inventory, Cruz explained they were offering as much as 30-percent discounts for projects in Metro Manila, although buyers are required to pay 10 percent of the total price on the spot.
Dy said most of the discounts were for projects that “have been in inventory for a while, whose prices have already escalated over the years.”
“That’s why the margins are still intact despite the discount,” she noted.
