The Digital Property Seeker Series real estate
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As the country’s population balloons and unstable economic conditions continue, the demand for affordable housing is more pressing than ever. To help property sellers and developers take advantage of this market opportunity, KB-REALITY GROUP made a study on affordable property seekers: the key areas they are searching for properties in, their search habits, and the types of affordable homes they seek.
Evaluating search data collected during the first half of 2018, Lamudi observed that those looking for homes priced Php3 million or less mostly looked into properties priced Php1.7-3 million (low-cost). This was followed by searches for homes within the next price range-between Php450,000 and Php1.7 million (economic). Those being sold for less than Php450,000 only received a fraction of the searches or at about six percent.
Accounting for half of the searches for affordable homes, the larger volume of searches for homes within the Php1.7-3 million is in line with the trend of costlier homes typically being more available in the affordable and medium-cost markets. In fact, according to the previously mentioned report by the CRC-UAP and SHDA, the excess supply in the latter, or those priced Php3-4 million, increased by half a million in 2015.
KB-REALITY GROUP exclusive search data has also made it evident that female property seekers have taken a greater interest in affordable homes as compared to their male counterparts. Women accounted for as much as 64 percent of the searches for homes priced Php3 million or less in the first half of 2018, while men accounted for 36 percent.
Age-wise, property seekers aged 25 to 34 years old have shown the greatest interest in affordable houses. Home seekers within the age group accounted for 40 percent of the searches with, again, most coming from female homebuyers at 27 percent, followed by male homebuyers at 13 percent.
WHO SEARCH FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING THE MOST?
Located in the National Capital Region where real estate is costliest in the country, Quezon City and Makati accounted for the most searches for affordable housing.
QC-based property seekers by far showed the most interest, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the searches in each of the socialized, economic, and low-cost housing segments. Many of the said searches were observed to have been made towards affordable housing in nearby areas like Rizal, making it evident property seekers are often interested in real estate in nearby locations.
While responsible for a significantly lesser share of searches than QC, Makati users still showed the second most interest, accounting for 17 to 21 percent of searches across the three affordable housing segments. Similarly, property seekers in the city were mostly looking into properties that are in areas that are within relative distance, such as those located in the province of Cavite.
National capital Manila and the city of Bacoor figured among the top five locations where most searches for affordable housing had come from, although it must be noted that there had been a small fraction compared to those from users in Quezon City and Makati.
LEADS GENERATED PER PRICE BRACKET
With regard to the search habits of those looking for affordable housing, KB-REALITY GROUP found that property seekers commonly conducted their searches on Tuesday, although the difference between days was not too significant. Over 15 percent of total searches for affordable housing were made Tuesdays, while other days of the week had 13- to a 14-percent share of searches.
In terms of the most typical times when searches for affordable housing were made, the latter half of the day was when most property seekers look into affordable housing listed online. Affordable property seekers search most during primetime, as the hours of 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM accounted for as much as 12 percent of the searches, followed by the hours of 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at 11.5 percent.
MOST SEARCHED AREAS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
Among the various cities and municipalities in the Philippines, those located in the provinces of Rizal and Cavite had been the ones commonly seeing the most interest for affordable housing.
The municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal had the largest share of searches for socialized housing at almost 24 percent. Nearby San Mateo also received a substantial share of the interest at over seven percent. Rizal capital Antipolo, on the other hand, saw substantial interest from property seekers looking for low-cost housing, with the city receiving as much as over 13 percent of the total searches in the segment.
Las Piñas received a slightly higher share of the searches for low-cost housing at over 18 percent. Bacoor also figured in the top five of the most searched places for low-cost housing in the Philippines, accounting for as much as over seven percent of the total searches. In terms of economic housing, the cities of Imus and General Trias were among the most searched in the country, receiving over 14 and almost 11 percent of the searches, respectively.
Quezon City was the sole Metro Manila location to receive a substantial amount of the searches, particularly for low-cost housing at over 23 percent. Also of note is Davao City, which received over nine percent of the searches for the same housing segment. It was also the most searched area in the country for economic housing, with almost 21 percent share of the total searches for the price segment.
LEADS GENERATED PER PRICE BRACKET?
Properties within the Php1.7 million to Php3 million price range fell under the affordable housing market. Unsurprisingly, data showed that the interest for properties under Php3 million were some of the highest among property seekers. However, affordable property seekers also took great interest in properties within the Php3 million to Php4.5 million, showing that they can adjust their budget should there be a need for it.
