Real estate remains a viable investment

By Rhia de Pablo Updated January 30, 2009 12:00 AM

Amidst the negative prospects of the economy this year with forecasted slowdown on consumer spending brought about by the current global economic crisis, real estate players stays upbeat in opening new projects.

One of which is the San Fermin Place, the first project of F3 Properties Inc., a fairly new player in Cebu’s thriving housing sector which was recently launched at the Casino Español.

“People nowadays look out for stability in the market and they are on the lookout for good valued developments as investment prospects, value will now be important to a lot of people,” said Peri S. Villarta, managing director of F3 Holdings Corp., the umbrella company of F3 Properties Inc., sister companies of Tita Gwapa stores and F3 International Inc., a furniture exporter.

Villarta said that despite the volatility of the economy today, real estate prospects remain bright that is why they remain upbeat in pursuing this high-end project.

San Fermin Place is a two-hectare exclusive beachfront real estate development located in Mactan, a walking distance from beach resorts in the island such as Costabella, Maribago Bluewater, Cebu Beach Club, among others, said Villarta.

The development is composed of 19 open lots and 21 townhomes with complete amenities and so far seven opened lots have already been sold.

This high-end development in Mactan initially has P200 million funding with a unit price ranging from P9 million to P14 million for its townhomes.

“With the shaking investment in the stock market and the drop of property value in the US which is under deep recession, most are now looking at Asia to put up more stable investments so we aim to be known to attract these potential markets. In any business whether there is a crisis or not, nothing’s going to happen if you don’t work hard for it, “said Villarta.

She said that equipped with their long experience in the furniture exporting industry and retail with Tita Gwapa, they are striving to serve the needs of the market especially at these tougher times when most people are holding on to their hard-earned money and are hesitant to invest.

“San Fermin was created with concept of security, exclusivity, and value for investment so that their investment will appreciate every year,” said Villarta.

Realtor Ricardo N. Inting, the chairman and CEO of Land Asia Global Properties Network, the marketing arm of San Fermin Place said that real estate is still the best investment option at this point of crisis.

But he stressed that marketing a particular project should no longer be confined with the traditional tools such as exhibits or open houses because it has to have a global appeal and the better way to do it is through the World Wide Web.

“In these exceptionally challenging times with increasing prices of construction materials which slowed down sales, marketing should be a global appeal so that potential buyers will know that real estate is still the best investment at this point,” said Inting.

He forecasted that for the second quarter of this year, Manila will deeply be affected with the crisis with foreclosed condominiums but Cebu will remain resilient because of its salient features that will keep its real estate sector upbeat for the next two to three years.

“Most investors from different countries under recession like the US are now looking at Cebu as an investment destination and they believe that Cebu is the right place to invest at this point in time especially the baby boomer market,” said Inting.

He said that there are about 80 million baby boomers abroad that could be tapped as potential investors and two million of which are Filipino Americans with an average of $2, 000 who are looking for the best place to retire.

“The opportunity is here in Cebu and it’s just a matter of doing the right thing and adopting new marketing systems that will work to capture these markets,” said Inting.