The growing push for accessible homes in a tightening real estate market

A stable, permanent home remains a core aspiration for many Filipino workers.

Affordability remains the biggest hurdle for Filipinos hoping to secure a home of their own, especially with economic pressures and a housing shortage that continues to widen. The projected national backlog may reach as high as 10 million units by 2028, representing the gap between what Filipinos need and what’s actually available at accessible prices.

With high amortization rates blocking many families from entering the market, developers are pushed to rethink how to deliver homes that are simpler to acquire, without compromising livability.

To address this massive deficit, the private sector is pushed to innovate, focusing on delivering accessible, high-quality homes, especially for the middle class.

Affordable housing

Lessandra, the affordable housing brand under the Villar Group, is among the players leaning into this segment. The company focuses on lower- to middle-income families earning around ₱40,000 to ₱100,000 monthly, offering units priced from ₱2 million to ₱5 million.

As the Filipino middle class steadily grew to 44 million, or 40% of the population in 2021, the need for suitable housing increased proportionally. 

“We keep amortization in the ₱10,000 to ₱15,000 range,” Red Rosales, chief operating officer of Lessandra, told radar Business. He noted that the majority of their buyers rely on Pag-IBIG or bank financing to complete purchases, while a small portion (about 5%) pays in cash.

This approach reduces the upfront burden and aims to make homeownership more manageable for families looking for their first property.

A younger market

Property buyers are getting younger, with many now coming from early-career professionals and overseas Filipino workers who see real estate as both a practical investment and a symbol of stability.

These new homeowners are driving specialized lifestyle demands. Rosales underlines a significant trend toward pet-friendly living: “For many first-time buyers, especially millennials and Gen Zs, the ability to have pets is now a primary and non-negotiable factor.”

Many buyers now prefer developments with more green space and softer landscaping, a shift from older, more restrictive subdivision layouts. Lessandra’s projects follow this direction with wider roads for better traffic flow, higher unit clearances for improved ventilation and natural light, and dedicated parking spaces for added mobility.

A nationwide strategy

Lessandra sets itself apart with a broader geographic reach. Instead of concentrating around Metro Manila, the company expanded across the country, now selling in 49 provinces and 147 cities and municipalities.

This strategy aligns with decentralizing housing beyond the metro and welcoming the growing demand for housing in regional development areas.

The company has also adopted artificial intelligence (AI) tools for prospecting and property matching, a move intended to shorten sales cycles and better align units with buyer preferences.

Bureaucracy in real estate

Despite this innovation by the private sector, the overall housing supply remains constrained by systemic government inefficiency, which impacts affordability.

Rosales said that securing a single License to Sell requires developers to pass through an “arduous regulatory maze,” dealing with 27 different government agencies and obtaining more than a hundred signatures. This process creates significant holding costs and delays for the developers, which factors into the final price of a house unit.

Studies from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies say that the rise in residential housing prices has outpaced the average salary growth over the past decade.

Adapting to customer trends

Lessandra seeks to set itself apart in a market that often compromises quality for the sake of affordability. Wanting to be known as “Lessandra 2.0,” this upgrade of listening and adapting to customer trends is integral to the company’s strength over its competitors.

While many affordable housing projects deliver bare units, forcing homeowners to incur additional expenses for home designing, Lessandra saw something different.

Rosales said, “Today, we are no longer selling just the structure. We are selling a complete product to elevate your lifestyle.”

 

 

The real estate market is shifting as more buyers in their 20s to 40s enter the hunt for homes.

 

 

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