Jaqueline van den Ende, Lamudi.com.ph managing director, explains how a client can use the Dial4Home service which was launched in Cebu at the Cebu City Marriot Hotel. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)
LAMUDI.COM.PH is targetting the large number of Filipinos not connected to the Internet with their newest Dial4Home service.
They hope this new service will help bridge the gap between online and offline segments in the market and encourage more Filipinos to start going online, said Jaqueline van den Ende, Lamudi.com.ph managing director, during yesterday’s launch of the service in Cebu.
Lamudi.com.ph is an online property portal.
While Internet penetration in the country has grown from zero in 1997 to 40 percent this year, a large number among the 60 percent of the local market still remains offline, said Van den Ende.
“There are 38 million Filipinos in the Internet; 37 million have Facebook accounts while 25 million use smartphones,” she said, citing a company survey.
“This is projected to continue to grow, and we see the online platforms becoming more and more popular among users including those looking for properties to buy,” she said.
Steps to follow
With the service, customers simply dial any of the two Dial4Home numbers — 09201339841 or 09273316809 — for their specific property queries.
They will receive an SMS or text message from Lamudi with a link of the matching property and a contact number of the broker they can reach for more inquiries.
She cited Cebu’s fast growing economy, which is higher than that of the national growth rate.
“This is why we decided to launch Dial4Home first here,” she said.
Van den Ende said Cebu’s population of 4.6 million is growing at 1.77 percent every year.
The Cebu property market also offers significantly cheaper rates compared to those in Taguig and Makati, she said.
Property segments
In terms of supply, all property segments — office, residential and retail — are showing positive growth.
“Office stock grew by 16.5 percent annually over the last seven years with 287,000 square meters yet to be delivered over the next three years,” she said citing a Collier’s International report.
The outsourcing industry is the main growth driver for the office property segment which employs 95,000 people working for some 45 outsourcing companies in Cebu.
In the residential segment, sales last year grew by eight percent and new launches registering 19 percent more than those in 2013.
“There is increasing interest from middle-and high-end developers. The demand already caught up with supply last year. Cebu is even more popular than Manila among expats,” she said. Retail spaces will continue to grow with 407,000 square meters space expected to be available in the next three years.
With these positive trends, Van den Ende said that people will be actively looking for the best properties in Cebu.
She said it was critical to link those who are offline to the many available properties in the market.
“While they are offline, they still need to buy properties and the service Dial4Home will help us cater to them.”
Lamudi.com.ph has over 7,000 sale listings in Cebu, 1,000 for rent and over 100 partners including developers and brokers./With Vanessa Claire Lucero