MANILA, Philippines ? Housing in and around Metro Manila remains unaffordable and out of reach for too many middle-income families.

?Living in Metro Manila, most especially, is becoming more unaffordable for a lot of middle-class families who contend themselves to rental homes rather than buying homes for themselves. Some are even forced to live in slums,? noted Romarico Alvarez, chair of PA Alvarez Properties and Development Corp.

As a result, Alvarez said, outlying provinces of Metro Manila, like Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan and even Batangas are fast becoming the next destinations for these families wanting to move out.

Preference

?Many of these families still prefer living in bungalows or other types of horizontal developments (as opposed to condominiums), which they could easily find in these places. Considering that access to these provinces have improved or in the process of being rehabilitated (like the on-going construction of the South Luzon Expressway), it won?t be long when travel time would no longer be an issue for a homebuyer wanting to go out of Metro Manila,? said Alvarez.

He reported that this has been one of the reasons PAAPDC recently opened the third phase of its St. Joseph Village 7, a development located in Barangay Marinig, Cabuyao, Laguna.

?Price has been specially packaged for middle-income homebuyers. I would recommend the Cattleya, a 37.6-square-meter bungalow sitting on an 80-sq-m lot with prices ranging from P820,000 to P970,000. The Rosal, a 21-sq-m attached unit on either 40- or 60-sq-m lot with prices ranging from P400,000 to P515,000, is also a reasonable deal,? Alvarez said.

Other units offered are the Iris, a 26.25-sq-m bungalow on an 80-sq-m lot (P695,000 to P945,000); Jasmin, a 34.08-sq-m attached unit on either 40- or 60-sq-m lot (P620,000 to P750,000); and Lilac, a 21-sq-m unit on a 60-sq-m lot (P665,000 to P755,000).

Several amenities

Alvarez said their future residents would get to enjoy several amenities already in place including centralized water supply system, multipurpose halls and pavilions.

?From the variety of unit types and price packages that we are offering here at St. Joseph Village 7?s third phase, we expect to attract homebuyers working here in Laguna?s various industrial parks and those families still renting in Metro Manila,? Alvarez explained.

While still an agricultural province, Laguna is home to highly developed urban centers that boast of commercial and entertainment districts that could make families forget going to Metro Manila for a while, he said.