Condo-mania in the Philippines

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, THE PHILIPPINES HAS moved into the age of condominiums, changing not just our cities’ skylines but the way we live, and interact.

I have been following these housing developments, even visiting several, and I’ve come away with very mixed feelings. On one hand, it seems they’re inevitable, if we are to meet the housing needs of Filipinos. I know there are still some low-cost housing schemes offering plots of land of about 20 square meters with a tiny house (sometimes built three or four stories up) but these tend to be at the fringes now of cities.

Condominiums, without the cost of land, offer cheaper alternatives, and you’d be amazed at what they have, prices going from about P400,000 to P40 million and with all kinds of financing schemes where you end up paying the equivalent of monthly rents. The tiniest I’ve seen was a 14 sq.m. unit, with an option to add a 7 sq.m. mezzanine! Even condominiums targeting the upper classes will offer tiny studios, going from about 20 sq.m. upwards. Here I marvel at the skills of architects and interior designers: I’ve seen two bedrooms built into a 24 sq.m. unit.

The large units are usually penthouses. One condominium developer in Manila was offering 200 sq.m. units with their own private pool. Raffles, yes the Raffles of Singapore (but owned by a Dubai-based company), is building a 30-suite, 236-unit, high-end condominium which they haughtily advertise as “the first significant luxury branded residence in Makati.” Their largest suite is a 402 sq.m., 4-bedroom penthouse unit.

There are advantages to the condominiums, which often have their own amenities on site. Even middle-class condominiums offer some leisure spaces and as you go up-market, you will find add-ons like swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, gyms, function rooms, Zen gardens and walkways. Many reserve the ground floor for commercial units, or are connected to malls.

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