Property developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. on Tuesday said it is capitalizing on the increasing preference of customers for house and lots, particularly those in provincial areas.
The company said home buyers and investors now put a premium on safety, as they look for homes with adequate space and within an integrated community amid this pandemic. It added that the buyers are more interested in properties in the provinces.
Vista Land has always focused on horizontal housing and has since scattered its developments across the country.
In the last five years the company generated half of its revenues from areas outside of Metro Manila.
“This pandemic has impacted our performance for the first half of 2020 and we still expect the rest of the year to be challenging. However, we are happy to see encouraging signs for both our residential and leasing businesses,” Manuel B. Villar Jr., the company’s chairman, said.
“For our residential business, we are glad to have always been able to cater to the changing needs and preferences of our homebuyers, and to stay true to our core goal of building homes for every Filipino, most especially during these trying times.”
Villar said the company has witnessed the shift of customer preference to house and lot products in the provincial areas as evidenced by the increase in proportionate sales from housing products outside Metro Manila compared to the same period last year.
As to its leasing business, the company’s operational gross floor area has expanded to 79 percent, from 20 percent during the strict lockdown period that started in mid-March.
“The 21 percent that remain closed are those tenants that are still not allowed to operate as per government mandated restrictions,” he said.
Vista Land has launched only two residential projects valued at P2 billion in the first half, but the company said it is looking at launching more by the second half especially if the upward trend in sales will continue.
“Our June sales are already at 70 percent of pre-Covid level with July and August sales tracking better than June. Thus, if this sales trajectory continues, we might decide to launch more projects in the fourth quarter. We do not need to acquire new land anyway as we have an existing land bank of about 3,000 hectares,” Villar said.
Manuel Paolo A. Villar, the company’s president and CEO, said the synergy between its residential and leasing businesses, the company’s malls are still enjoying a decent foot traffic since most of Vista Land’s commercial properties are within its existing residential community.
“This pandemic may have upended the real estate industry and the economy in general yet a lot of opportunities are still there especially in our sector. Right now, we are making the necessary adjustments to our business operations in order to better position the company once the economy fully recovers,” he said.
Image credits: www.camella.com.ph
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