Industry experts to tackle new homebuyer behaviors

After the successful virtual discussion held last month, Lamudi will hold another event this October 29. The online roundtable will focus on new buyer behaviors.

Following the successful roundtable discussion last September, Lamudi will hold another virtual event on October 29, titled New Behaviors, New Demands: What Matters to Homebuyers Now. Interested individuals can tune in and learn more about the current state of the real estate market.

This new installment to Lamudi’s roundtable series will revolve around the emerging market preferences and behaviors at the backdrop of the pandemic.

New Rules: Lifestyle Changes to Prepare for

The first track of the Lamudi roundtable discussion will feature panelists from different real estate segments: Markus Nisula, Managing Director of KONE Philippines; May Lopez, Vice President and Business Unit Head of I-Land; Elizabeth Ventura, President of Anchor Land Holdings, Inc.; Felimon Yee, Jr., Vice President for Business Development and Customer Turnover of DataLand, Inc.; and Jenna Belardo, AVP and Business Unit Head for Property Sales of Ortigas Land.

With the theme ‘New Rules: Lifestyle Changes to Prepare for’, panelists will zoom in on the housing trends that have emerged since the pandemic hit.

With home buyers adopting new ways of living and recalibrating priorities, experts expect a change in behaviors and preferences in terms of residential arrangements.

In the previous roundtable discussion, industry players have mentioned the movement away from the city and into suburban hotspots. In fact, some stressed that regional centers are the first to bounce back from the pandemic crisis.

For the upcoming virtual event, panelists will tackle if these trends are also happening in their own development projects and forecast if these will stay beyond the pandemic.

Aside from location and house type trends, changes in preferences in maintaining a balanced lifestyle (live, work, play) will likewise be discussed. The speakers will share the ways they are supporting such demands brought by the new normal.

Lamudi’s trend report released in August, The Outlook on the Residential Market: Property investment as a safe haven during a crisis, outlined the top-searched amenities, which point to greater focus on improving quality of life while in quarantine. This includes swimming pools (11 percent of searches), airconditioning equipment (nine percent), WiFi (eight percent), and balcony (six percent).

Connectivity amenities such as stable internet connection have been identified as a must-have in the previous roundtable discussion, as almost all human activities, from work to learning, were concentrated in the home.

These emerging preferences for home features will be discussed at length at the upcoming virtual event, as the panelists disclose the immediate solutions they applied to support the market’s new ways of living.

Finally, the experts will talk about the short-term and permanent changes they see in the industry. Sharing their adjustments in business operations, they will bare plans on how to move forward into the post-pandemic era.

New Essentials: Sustainability as the Community Spotlight

The virtual event will continue with a one-on-one interview with the President of SM Development Corporation (SMDC), Jose Mari Banzon, for On the House: Small Talk with Big Bosses.

In an interview with Lamudi’s CEO Kenneth Stern, the track ‘New Essentials: Sustainability as the Community Spotlight’ will explore how the affordable residential market segment is performing amid the health crisis and what types of initiatives SMDC has been adopting to reach out to buyers.

In the previous roundtable discussion, industry experts reported that the affordable segment is one of the most proactive in the market, witnessing a stable performance on sales, if not an uptick.

The earlier mentioned trend report showed that buying property amid the crisis hinges on affordability.

The upcoming one-on-one interview with Banzon will provide deeper insight into the affordable scene, as he shares what SMDC has observed in their own clients the past months. Taking into account the return of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), which make up a significant portion of the market, the SMDC president will weigh in on its impact on the demand for affordable housing.

The specific property features the market deems necessary in their homes will likewise be tackled.

As the pandemic emphasized the importance of taking care of the environment to reduce the likelihood of future crises, part of the discussion will be the green building initiatives SMDC has embraced.

Aside from real estate insights, Banzon will be sharing their community program called The Good Guys. The endeavor aims to extend assistance to the elderly and persons with disability by having volunteers provide shopping services.

This online event is sponsored by KONE, Subdivision and Housing Division Association, Inc., and the official broadcast media partner, ANC.

For more information about the upcoming Lamudi roundtable discussion, visit the platform’s Facebook page.

Go to http://bit.ly/TheOutlookOct29Registration  to register for the event.