Business Mirror 10/19/2009
Listed real-estate developer Ayala Land Inc. is bullish on its overseas prospects, particularly in the US, where it has begun to target high-end health-care professionals as part of a new and more focused international strategy.
In a chance interview last week, Ayala Land senior vice president Rex Mendoza shared that property sales to US buyers during its most recent road show have been “very good” as it targeted clients outside California and New York, where it previously focused on.
“In this particular road show, we distinctively moved to tap the not-so-regular areas like Chicago and some other Midwest areas where most of the [Filipino] professionals are nurses and doctors,” said Mendoza.
“There are some pockets in the US that are not hard hit, basically the people who work in the health-care sector,” he said.
The Ayala Land executive explained that many investors are seeing the value in putting their savings in Philippine real estate, where prices managed to appreciate despite the global financial crisis. “They know that people who invested in the US for the last two years, [lost money].”
The move is part of an overall strategy employed by Ayala Land to capture a bigger slice of the international market.
Mendoza said the firm’s is now crafting separate events for its Ayala Land Premier, Alveo Land and Avida Land units which cater to the high end, middle income, and affordable segments, respectively.
“The key is to focus on specific segments [so] it’s not like before when we come up with a road show where it’s from A to Z,” said Mendoza. “You bore one party and then excite the other one. Now people know what to expect.”
While unable to give specific sales figures, Mendoza said the demand is strong enough for the company to consider a third tranche of its Homestarter Bonds, though this time for the international market.
Ayala Land recently concluded its P504-million Homestarter bond offer to the domestic market last week. This scheme required buyers to set aside as low as P5,000 a month for a bond subscription over 36 months. The resulting P180,000 will earn 5 percent a year.
The bonds will earn an additional 10-percent bonus credit if used as down payment to a property developed by Ayala Land.
Mendoza said the new tranche for overseas buyers may be ready within this year. Outside the US, the company is also looking to boost its sales efforts in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia which continues to show resilience, he added.
Ayala Land also wants to boost its presence in Southeast Asia.
“There are big markets in Singapore and Hong Kong that we are not tapping because we don’t have the product,” said Mendoza.
The company earlier announced that it will expand into the low-cost residential housing segment offering homes between P600,000 to P1.25 million.
Mendoza said the new unit, which has yet to be named, will be sold under its Avida brand and will target overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong. The company will also market its brands in Singapore.