The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
With a housing backlog of 3 million, which is going up by at least 6 percent a year, the housing industry, specifically the companies that provide affordable housing, does not have at its fingertips the data needed to allow both the private sector and the government the tools to decipher what is happening and what are needed to make things happen.
Now, those data would soon come about, thanks to the recent 6th annual meeting between the Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines, Inc. and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council that led to the establishment of a research center called Center for Housing and Independent Research Synergies (CHAIRS). The stakeholders agreed to set up the research body with 8990 Holdings, the country’s No. 1 low-cost housing firm, contributing the seed fund of P1 million.
For 8990 Holdings President and CEO Januario Jesus Atencio, it was actually a personal dream come true. A visionary, Atencio has been at the forefront of game-changing innovations in the industry, and the creation of the housing research center is something he has looked forward to.
Said he:” For more than five years, I have been seriously thinking about and talking to many people about how we sorely needed a research institute for housing, and how, without updated statistics and relevant information, doing business felt like flying a plane in zero visibility.
“We need all kinds of data to make the best decisions: from basic housing demand and supply data, market research, and affordability analyses, to statistics and analyses in support of a position on issues like national land use, BP220 price ceilings, or income tax holidays. “
For him, “CHAIRS becomes our runway lights; our information guide to help us navigate our business and industry in an environment that is becoming faster and more complex every day. Indeed, the housing industry has evolved of late, especially with the challenging business environment now.”
The Globe Asiatique fiasco, for instance, has tarnished the reputation of the housing industry, and the creation of CHAIRS brings with it the socialized housing industry’s attempt to bring in fresh ideas for much of the populace that remained without a roof over their heads. A research study could be commissioned by the housing center to see to it how the Globe Asiatique came about.
Perhaps, the envisioned housing journal that the research center would come up with could dwell on the raison d’ etre of the Globe Asiatique phenom. Even the socialized housing-loan ceiling of P450, 000 as per the Socialized Housing and Economic Housing Law may become a focus of a research by the center. There are many other items that could interest the government and private sector about the housing industry.
For instance, what is the overall effect, of say, a one percentage point decrease in interest rates on housing loans, to the industry and the government? Would a decline in the government revenues from the drop in the interest rate lead to a corresponding increase in the take up of housing loans? That could be answered by the research findings and these findings could help our government agencies in their policy initiatives on housing.
It is heartwarming then to know that the socialized housing industry has made the right step toward fulfilling its mandate. Atencio’s voice rings an optimistic note on this: For all of us OSHDP members who realize and understand how critical good research, information, analysis, statistics and numbers is to the industry, CHAIRS will change the way we do business and how we make our management decisions.
Because having the right information at the right time transforms our business to something better.