Davao, Cebu developers now more competitive

PROPERTY developers from Cebu and Davao are becoming more competitive with the big players who are based in Manila driven by growing interest in their respective markets, according to the judging panel of an award-giving body.

In a press conference for the 2017 Philippine Property Awards on Wednesday, Cindy Tan Jarabata, president of TAJARA leisure and Hospitality Group Inc., told reporters that the focus of the new administration has “sparked” interest in the Visayas and Mindanao property markets.

“I think what’s interesting with the current administration is it has opened more interest in Visayas and Mindanao,” said Jarabata, who is part of the judging panel for the Philippine Property Awards.

She said that the VisMin growth story is something that has been developing in recent years.

“The president shuttles between Davao and Mindanao. It’s really encouraging a lot of people to look at VisMin, but it’s not new. It’s just that there’s more awareness. A lot of big developers have invested in Visayas and Mindanao. Really great success in the past few years,” Jarabara said.

Given the growing interest in the VisMin market, more entries from Cebu and Davao-based developers are expected to join the 2017 Philippine Property Awards to be held in May of next year.

“We expect to see a much stronger Davao and as well as Cebu,” said Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the Asia Property Awards.

Blackburn said they expect to receive around 200 entries from developers all over the country.

Last year, the Philippine Property awards received a total of 150 entries.

Of the target 200 expected entries, Blackburn said around 30 percent of the entries will likely come from VisMin while 70 percent will come from Manilabased developers.

“The participation from major and up-and- coming developers continues to grow year after year because of the impact of the Awards on the industry. In the last five years we’ve seen the awards programme expand to include different categories specifically created for regional development in key markets such as Cebu and Davao. It is a reflection of a strong Philippine real estate sector that is focused on improving quality and sustainability,” Blackburn said.

The award- giving body also announced that it is introducing two new categories this year, namely the Best BPO Office Development and Best Mixed-use Development.

According to Blackburn, the addition of new categories is driven by the large amount of entries they have been receiving for such categories.

“There’s a huge growth area here [BPO] and it continues to do so,” Blackburn said.

The Philippine Property Awards is part of the regional Asia Property Awards organized by the Property Guru Group. Winners of the Philippine awards will compete at the South East Asia Property Awards to be held in Singapore.