SM Development Corp., the residential unit of property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc., said it has launched 8,000 residential units from five new projects in the first half of the year amid strong demand for housing.
SMDC executive vice president Jose Mari Banzon said in a recent interview the company was on track to launch 12,000 to 14,000 units in the entire 2015.
“Our first half has been very strong. We expect it to accelerate in full year,” Banzon said.
“We’ve already launched about five projects in the first half. We still have five projects in the pipeline that we will launch, depending on the take-up because we want to manage our inventory level,” he said.
Banzon said the company’s reservation sales increased from the previous year’s level, which indicated that the residential market remained strong.
The company said at an average price of P2.5 million per unit, the launching of 8,000 condominium units would generate P20 billion in reservation sales.
“Our [reservation] sales for the last six months have been considerably bigger than the same period last year. The market is strong,” Banzon said.
SMDC said the recent venture into the medium to high-end market under the SMDC Premier brand was also strongly received by the market as it posted strong reservation sales.
Banzon said Air, which is located in Makati and Fame in Mandaluyong were top-selling projects of the company, next to Shore Residences at Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
Banzon said SMDC was also in the process of acquiring tracks of land in Pampanga and Cavite for its venture into the house and lot projects.
“We’re still consolidating the properties in Cavite and Pampanga. We want a decent size to make it optimal. Then [we] will apply it to conversion for residential. The minimum size should be 30 hectares,” Banzon said.
It plans to launch its first house and lot project next year with price point ranging from P850 to P1.5 million.
SMDC also reported that it was finalizing its first residential project in China. The company it was already working on the design of the residential projects in Chengdu and was securing necessary permits to enable it to start constructing the first two towers.
The company hopes to complete the project over the next two years.