TLDC optimistic on PH real estate industry’s road to recovery

The Philippine real estate industry is seeing optimistic recovery prospects through increased sales and new opportunities, according to Torre Lorenzo Development Corporation (TLDC) President & CEO Tomas Lorenzo in an interview on CNN Philippines’ The Final Word with Rico Hizon on April 28. 

As the pandemic officially ended and traffic made its return, face-to-face classes return for students. This marked an increase in demand for real estate especially in locations near offices and universities. TLDC, the pioneer in premium university residences noted a boost in sales of its properties near the university belt in Manila. “We are part of the education budget,” Lorenzo shared, referring to finding a place to stay being part of Filipinos’ priority in spending for their children’s education.

“School is back to face-to-face so many of the parents have started to really look for a place for their kids to live. What came back is traffic. Therefore living in and around the university is important. It’s the way that people are surviving,” Lorenzo shared. 

Adjusting and saving in the face of inflation and higher prices

When asked by Hizon about higher prices and higher costs of raw materials, Lorenzo acknowledged that prices and costs have indeed gone up, especially with problems regarding the supply chain and the recent resumption of construction now that restrictions have been relaxed. However, the technology used by TLDC now has improved and new innovations help make them manageable. “We do a lot of quality surveying (QS), a lot of ways to lower the cost of construction, to make it faster, to make it more efficient. And the materials that are available now are top-quality,” he explained. 

“In terms of pricing, we’ve tried to make it as affordable for our buyers as possible, so longer terms, easier terms, and that’s being done,” says Lorenzo. For TLDC, select Torre Lorenzo properties offer early move-ins with select down payments. For instance, you can move in at just 3% down payment to 3Torre Lorenzo, The Residences at Torre Lorenzo Malate, and Adria Tower at Tierra Lorenzo Lipa.

Real estate growth outside Metro Manila

As the real estate industry grows around the Philippines, more real estate companies have begun looking at developing new properties beyond Metro Manila.  With many emerging cities on the rise and many potential customer bases from those provinces who are looking to invest, there are many opportunities for growth to be made outside the Philippines’ capital.

These real estate projects have been profitable so far, owing to the financial viability, newly-emerging markets, and convenience of living in the province. More growth can be found where other developers have not explored yet. “We have our five-year and ten-year plans all over the Philippines. We started in Davao because we’re really from Mindanao. And I already saw that ten years ago that there was a demand,” he said, referring to the integrated Tierra Davao complex that houses Dusit Thani Residences, dusitD2 Hotel, and the upcoming Crown Residences, as well as the Dusit Thani Lubi Plantation Resort.

Real estate’s long-term value and plans

As the real estate industry makes its way towards recovery  and new opportunities around the country, developers become more innovative. In a now-crowded industry with properties and buildings popping up left and right, thinking long-term, formulating innovative plans, and standing out among the crowd through customer value is important, now more than ever. Sometimes, all you need to do is answer where there is demand.

“Why, for example, did we look at Lipa, Batangas? Because the weather’s great, [and there are] many hospitals, many schools, [and] many churches. Whenever I’d talk to the overseas Filipinos when I’d go abroad and we’d do our marketing roadshows, they would tell me, ‘You know, I wanna move back to Batangas, but I want to move to Lipa, because of the weather, because of this and that,’” he explained.