Dumaguete Real Estate Prices – Are they really rising?

With the Dumaguete real estate market in a boom cycle, of course the simple answer is yes, prices are increasing, however this is not a trend that is happening across a wide range of property types. As in any market, prices are guided by the laws of supply and demand and though this will not be something that many sellers will want to hear, there is still plenty of land available in the Negros Oriental region around Dumaguete City. For most types of land, there is just far more sellers than there is buyers and thus price increases are very modest.

The two segments that do show real signs of inflationary pressures are beachfront properties and house and lots under 5 million. In the case of beachlots for sale, there is a severe shortage both southward, encompassing Bacong, Dauin and Zamboanguita, and Northward past Sibulan. To be blunt, finding a small residential lot to build a modest house on is next to impossible to find so consequently the prices have skyrocketed. A year or two ago, you might have been able to find a 1000 to 2000 sqm beachlot for sale in Bacong or Dauin at 2500 pesos per square meter, and now, if you are lucky enought o even find one, you will most likely be looking at a price tag of between 5,000 and 10,000 per square meter. With the shortage in Bacong and Dauin, price pressures are now being felt farther out in Zamboanguita and beachfront land for sale there has risen for an average of 1,500 to 2,000 per square meter to 3,000 to 4,000. In terms of house and lots for sale under 5 million, there just is very little decent stock left, and no concerted attempted to fill this void in the Dumaguete real estate market segment. Consequently, houses that previously would have been listed under 5 mil are now been listed in the 6 to 7 mil range. The problem with this though is that there is that a person who has 5 mil or less to spend, just cannot afford the 6-7 mil pricetag. The end result is that thought the listing prices have increased, the actual sale prices have not.

For the remaining segments of the Dumaguete real estate market, as I said earlier, there is really no discernible change in pricing , save for the fact that sellers, believing that price increases across the board are rising , have been wanting to list their properties higher. Sadly for these people, they are in for a disappointment as listing prices rarely reflect actual sale prices that the market is supporting.

To really illustrate this misunderstanding, I like to relate the story of numerous sellers who list their properties with us. We get an increasing number of phone calls from these sellers whose properties we have listed for months or even years, and though they have had little interest from buyers, demand that we raise their asking prices. These demands are based on the perceived inflationary trend of ALL properties in the Dumaguete real estate market, however this perception is simply NOT a reality. Sometimes it is a difficult task explaining to these people that if their property has not generated any interest at the price listed, raising the price just make little sense. all they will be facing is another long time span of continued non-interest.