Drowning in Condos, Starving for Homes: Bridging the Disconnect in Philippine Real Estate

I recently came across a post that a certain developer is now drowning in unsold inventories amounting to ₱100 billion.

But let’s be honest—this developer is not alone. Many others, both large and small, have been constructing residential condominium buildings non-stop over the years.

Is this a case of corporate greed?

Possibly. But it also exposes a deeper issue: a glaring mismatch between what developers are building and what the market actually needs.

There is an overwhelming demand for housing, but developers see building single-detached homes as too risky and not as profitable. So instead, they keep building vertical housing—condos in crowded urban centers—because that’s where the margins are.

This has created a long-standing disconnect:

Developers build for profit.

End-users buy for personal use and quality of life.

The reality? There is a mismatch in both the developers and end-users preferred location which is Metro Manila.

Most buyers dream of owning a single-detached home with space, privacy, and community, possibly in the city.

But what’s readily available in the city (and flooding the market) are condos—units that are becoming increasingly difficult to sell.

Now, developers are wracking their brains trying to figure out how to offload their billions in unsold condo inventory.

Meanwhile, potential homeowners are either priced out or uninterested, choosing to rent until they find the “right” property—often outside Metro Manila, in more livable provincial areas.

What needs to happen?

The government must step in. If we want to truly address the housing backlog, there must be incentives for developers to build more single-detached homes.

It’s time to realign development goals with the actual needs of the Filipino family.