Housing developers go digital amid pandemic

PROPERTY DEVELOPERS are turning to digital tools to boost home sales amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Companies are still seeing demand for residential projects, as buyers look to take advantage of record-low interest rates.

Here’s how some companies are going digital:

Century Properties Group (CPG) saw buyers making reservations for housing units even during the strict lockdown.

“We continue to improve on our services to make the customer journey more convenient for our clients, to allow them and their families to enjoy their dream homes much sooner, and also make the process smooth and safe both for our team and customers,” CPG Vice-Chairman John Victor R. Antonio said in a statement.

Virtual tours are available on CPG’s project websites, including ready-for-occupancy units at the Residences at Commonwealth in Quezon City, the Residences at Azure North in San Fernando, Pampanga; Acqua Private Residences in Mandaluyong City; and Batulao Artscapes in Batangas.

CPG agents can help customers check available units on the website, while reservation payments can be made through online platforms. Buyer forms can also be filled out at home.

The company said certain steps for unit turnover are also available digitally for buyers.

“Home ownership should be celebrated as a family milestone and not cause any untoward stress for customers. Our goal is to make the entire experience seamless and worry-free so that buyers can focus on enjoying the next chapter of their lives with their families,” Mr. Antonio said.

Consunji-led DMCI Homes said it redesigned its website www.dmcihomes.com to include features to show which units are still available for sale and to allow users to compare three prospective properties.

DMCI Homes said the website will also suggest properties near a user’s preferred location. The website also offers property virtual tours and walkthroughs of DMCI Homes properties.

It also digitized its pre-purchase processes — from the online client registration, unit holding, up to the reservation and payment.

“Even before the coronavirus pandemic, we have been harnessing IT capabilities to make homebuying a seamless process. We have redesigned our corporate website to be more responsive to the needs of our customers and we have also made available electronic forms to allow homebuyers to accomplish and submit them when convenient,” Jan Venturanza, DMCI Homes head for IT, marketing and customer care, said in a statement.

DMCI Homes also launched live online presentations for prospective condominium buyers.

AboitizLand, Inc. and Robinsons Land Corp. earlier introduced digital-based home buying options to clients amid the lockdown.

Megaworld Corp., which introduced digital sales strategies two years ago, said it generated around P17 billion in reservation sales in the second quarter when most parts of the country were still under an “enhanced community quarantine.”

“While the method of selling real estate during quarantine period was quite challenging, our digital sales strategies that we’ve been working on since two years ago paved the way for faster, smoother and safer transactions, and client engagements,” Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, chief operating officer of Megaworld, said in a statement on July 21.