In an interview with reporters, ALI president Jaime Ayala said preliminary reports show that growth recorded in the first quarter will be sustained in the second quarter as sales have yet to be substantially affected by the weaker global economy.

"We continue to watch closely at what happens to our target market and adjust accordingly," said Ayala adding that the bigger challenge is not in demand but in rising costs.

ALI residential business group head Bernard Dy said domestic demand remains to be very strong while, overseas, their marketing efforts have shift to Filipinos in the Middle East instead of the United States which has been affected by the credit crunch.

Dy said sales in the Middle East has grown 35 to 40 percent in the first half of the year. He added that Ayala Land Premier has registered a 50 percent growth in sales despite the fact that its inventory of high-end products is running low.

Meanwhile, Dante Abando, president of Alveo Land Corporation (formerly Community Innovations Inc.) said sales for the first half of the year surged 58 percent to P2.9 billion.

"I am very pleased that our business grew significantly. Our developments are always centered on people’s needs and the market responded well to our offerings," says Alveo Land President Dante M. Abando.

Registering a compounded annual growth rate of 36 percent, Alveo is one of the fastest growing developers of Ayala Land’s Residential Business Group and in the local real estate industry as a whole.

In 2007, Community Innovations posted its highest earnings in history at P4.8 billion, representing almost a third of the company’s six-year accumulated revenue of P15 billion. This translates to 53 percent growth from its 2006 earnings of P3.1 billion.