ST. DOMINIC'S PLACE

A NEW housing development got almost 100 reservations even before its grand launching, a real estate developer said.

Glenda Tupaz, ProHomes Development Inc. marketing manager, said the company was surprised by the positive response of the market during the open house of St. Dominic’s Place in Sudtunggan, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City last Saturday.

Tupaz said this just shows the growing demand for houses despite an international economic crisis triggered by, among other factors, the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States.

“People have opted to buy homes rather than pay rent,” Tupaz said during the project’s press launching at the Cebu City Sports Club yesterday.

St. Dominic’s Place is a 3.8-hectare housing development with 536 housing units. It offers two housing types: one-story socialized and two-story socialized houses.

The one-story unit has a lot area of 32 square meters and costs P400,000, while the two-story townhouse has a lot area of 40 square meters and costs P900,000. The socialized houses, Tupaz said, account for 17.5 percent of the total housing units.

With a total project cost of almost P200 million, St. Dominic’s is equipped with amenities such as parks and a playground, a basketball court and a multi-purpose hall. Each house comes with a carport.

Since the start of its development in September this year, St. Dominic’s already has 200 constructed units. Its grand launching is set in January next year.

The positive response to their latest development comes in a “lucky” year for ProHomes, Tupaz said.

ProHomes has sold out 387 housing units in Corinthian Homes in Lapu-Lapu and 307 units in La Bienvenida in Minglanilla this year. Corinthian Homes earned P250 million, while La Bienvenida earned P160 million.

“With this new project set for this year, we hope to earn a total revenue of almost P700 million this year,” she said, referring to the locally employed buyers who are also members of Pag-ibig.

ProHomes hopes to earn P250 million from St. Dominic’s Place.

With the continued growth in demand for housing, Tupaz also said the company has lined up six more housing developments for next year. These projects include a condominium to be put up near the city and more housing projects in the areas of Consolacion and Mactan.

“We hope to sell 1,600 units next year,” she said.

The estimated cost of the six projects, Tupaz added, is about P1 billion.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on December 16, 2009

DEVELOPER EYES WORKERS

By Nancy R. Cudis

A REAL estate developer maintains a positive outlook on the housing sector in Cebu amid the global economic slowdown.

Prohomes Development Inc. continues to focus on the local workforce, which it describes as a “resilient” market.



“We are (feeling) the pressure to produce more units to meet the demand,” said Prohomes founder, president and chief executive officer Beverly Dayanan.

Citing figures from the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund), she said the country needs to produce an average of 200,000 housing units every year to meet the demand.

This year, Pag-Ibig Fund plans to release some P43.5 billion worth of funding to developers nationwide, said Victoria dela Peña, department manager of Pag-Ibig Fund Mandaue branch.

About P3.5 billion of the amount is expected to be released for housing development in Cebu.

Dayanan said Prohomes hopes to get P500 to P600 million of the Cebu share, especially when the company has already identified three projects for next year that will collectively produce about 1,000 housing units.

“These projects would translate to a billion (pesos) in sales collections. Our prospects are bright. Our thrust is to continue producing more housing units through Pag-Ibig Fund,” she said.

Prohomes is the sister company of Johndorf Ventures Corp. (JVC), a wholly owned Filipino company with 20 years of experience in building houses and communities.