ETON FOCUSES ON OFW MARKET: First project involves 13.8-ha property in QC
THE PROPERTY ARM OF THE Lucio Tan Group of Companies has ventured into the middle-income segment of the real estate sector amid softening market conditions brought about by the US subprime crisis.
More importantly, the new unit of Eton Properties Philippines, Inc. plans to focus its selling effort toward expatriate Filipinos working around Asia and the Middle east, veering away from the North American market where many real estate firms have focused on in recent months.
Our main targets are the OFW (overseas Filipino worker) communities who can afford to pay a little more than P8,000 a month in amortization,” Eton president and chief operating officer Danilo Ignacio said during a briefing yesterday.
Belton Communities Inc., the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, was set up to carve out a niche in this segment, launching yesterday its first development in Quezon City.
The project is situated on a 13.8-hectare lot along Quirino Highway in Novaliches, and will consist of five phases. The first phase will have 1,400 residential units in 14 mid-rise buildings of 100 units each.
Each unit will have a floor area of 30 square meters and would sell for P1.2 million. Ignacio said the units could be bought with a down payment of as low as 10 percent payable over 12 months, with the 90-percent balance to be covered by bank financing.
Under this scheme, buyers would only have to shell out a monthly amortization of about P8,600.
“We believe that there is still a strong potential for this market segment,” the Eton chief said, adding that the only segment so far to take a hit in the recent downturn is the one funded by US-based Filipinos.
Their purchases here were funded by their surplus income, so if their mortgages (in the US) rise by $400 or $500, they can no longer afford to pay for property here,” he said.
Unlike other condominium projects which are completed in two to five years, Ignacio said Eton’s affordable housing projects are oriented toward rapid completion to allow buyers to move into their units right away.