Stock News 2011: In Boracay, DMCI is at the top of its game

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DMCI Homes, a leader in resort-themed communities, hopes to ride the crest of a property boom on Boracay Island especially with prime areas for real estate development getting scarce on this 1,006-hectare paradise.

Reynaldo Salazar, DMCI Homes director for business development, says Alta Vista De Boracay, DMCI’s first leisure property project built on the serene side of Boracay, has been attracting buyers not only for its promise of a hassle-free vacation house but also for its promising investment potential.

“Land values and construction costs in Boracay have gone up since we started building Alta Vista in 2006. They are bound to get higher as demand continues to rise and very few prime beach properties are left for development,” says Salazar.

Located at Barangay (village) Yapak, in the northern part of Boracay, Alta Vista de Boracay boasts a convenient access to the shorelines of three popular Boracay beaches: White Beach, Puka Beach and Punta Bunga beach, as well as fantastic views wherever you turn your head.

Since it was placed on the map as having the best beach in the world, Boracay has suffered through several setbacks with the influx of tourists and their impact on this fragile jewel between the Tablas Strait and Sibuyan Sea.

But Salazar says it has slowly but surely resolved problems on power, water, sewerage and garbage disposal.

“The airport and the seaport are being developed, utilities are being improved. It still has its problems, but what is important is what the government is doing to address them. Investors have taken notice, with big-name resort operators such as the Shangri-La Hotels coming in recent years,” says Salazar.

The 503-room Alta Vista de Boracay was completed two years ago with 70 percent of all the units sold so far enrolled in DMCI’s condotel investment program.

Salazar says that, compared with other hotels that operate more than 100 rooms on the island, Alta Vista—with competitive room rates of P3,000 to P5,000 a night—has performed at par or slightly better in terms of occupancy rates through the first five months this year.

“We’re confident we can sustain our occupancy further beyond Boracay’s peak and super-peak seasons, which usually last up to two months in a year,” he says.

Salazar says that being a few kilometers away from the world-famous White Beach (Alta Vista de Boracay is at Puka Beach on the northern side of the island) has its positive and negative side.

http://business.inquirer.net/5302/in-boracay-dmci-is-at-the-top-of-its-game