Mulberry Place Shantung 3-Bedroom: Why the Biggest Unit Costs the Least Per Square Meter

Almost every condo buyer shops the same way: find the cheapest total price you can live with, then work upward only if the budget allows. It is a sensible instinct and, on this particular pricelist, it produces the wrong answer.

Three 3-bedroom units are on the table at Shantung right now — 85, 101.5 and 118 square meters. Ranked by price per square meter, they come out in almost exactly the reverse of the order you would expect. This article shows the arithmetic, explains why it happens, and gives you the monthly figures on the standard 12% downpayment over 32 months so you can decide with real numbers instead of instinct.

The Three Units at a Glance

Gross area is what DMCI sells and what the price is computed on: interior floor area plus every balcony. Interior and balcony figures are from DMCI Homes' own unit layout sheets (memos DE-25-03-004 and DE-22-10-001). Prices from the DMCI pricelist dated 27 July 2026.

Read the last column top to bottom. The 85 sqm unit is the most expensive square meter in the group. The 118 sqm unit is the cheapest. The 101.5 sqm sits between them, closer to the top than the bottom.

The Number That Changes the Decision

Average price per square meter is useful for ranking, but it is not what you actually pay when you move up a size. What you pay is the marginal rate — the price of the extra space alone. Divide the price gap by the area gap:

That is the whole argument in one figure. If the budget can carry the bigger monthly, the additional space at Shantung is the best-value space in the building.

Why a Bigger Unit Can Price Lower Per Square Meter

This is not a discount and it is not an error on the pricelist. It falls out of how developer pricing is built, and the same pattern shows up across many DMCI projects.

Fixed costs are spread over more area. Every unit, regardless of size, needs a kitchen, at least one toilet, a front door, an electrical panel, a fan-coil system, and a share of the lobby, elevators, corridors and amenity deck. Those costs barely move between an 85 sqm unit and a 118 sqm one, but in the bigger unit they are divided across 39% more floor area. The per-square-meter share falls.

Small units carry a demand premium. Far more buyers can afford a ₱13M unit than a ₱18M one. Developers price to that demand curve, so the entry sizes hold their rate while the larger sizes have to compete for a much smaller pool of qualified buyers.

Balconies and utility space count as area but cost less to build. The 118 sqm gross at Shantung includes 19 sqm of balcony across three separate terraces. Balcony square meters are cheaper to construct than fully enclosed, finished interior space, but they still count toward the gross area the price is computed on. A unit with proportionally more balcony reads cheaper per gross square meter.

Floor level and facing move the price more than size does. Position premiums — a corner, a higher floor, a better outlook — are applied per unit and can easily swing the rate by 10% or more. On this pricelist those premiums are wide enough to swamp the size effect, which is exactly why the ranking looks scrambled.

The Honest Part: 809A Is the Most Expensive 85 sqm Left

If the 85 sqm layout is what you want, you should know that unit 809A is the priciest of the five still available in Shantung — and by a wide margin.

Over the full life of the purchase — downpayment, estimated closing fees and 240 monthly bank payments at an estimated 8.5% over 20 years — unit 809A costs about ₱2,290,012 more than unit 310 for the identical layout. That is ₱26,881,779 against ₱24,591,767.

809A is not a bad unit. It is a corner, it sits higher, it faces the Makati and BGC side, and it can be combined with the adjacent 809B as a tandem. Corners price higher for reasons that usually hold their value on resale. The point is that the premium is ₱1.13M, so it should be a choice you make deliberately rather than one you absorb by accident.

What 12% Down Over 32 Months Actually Costs

Shantung runs on a 32-month downpayment term. The reservation fee is ₱30,000 and it is deducted from the downpayment, not added on top. A 1% discount applies on the 12% term. Here is every figure on all three units.

Bank amortization figures are estimates computed at 7.75% (10 years), 8.25% (15 years) and 8.50% (20 years) on 88% of the net contract price. Your actual rate is set by your bank at loan approval and will differ.

Closing Fees: The Number Most Buyers Forget

Closing fees at DMCI run to approximately 9.6% of the net contract price and are payable separately from the downpayment. They cover documentary stamp tax, transfer tax, registration, and the usual title and processing charges.

On unit 1009 that is ₱1,726,212 — more than four fifths of the entire 12% downpayment, and money that has to be found on top of it. This is the single most common reason a buyer who was comfortable with the monthly gets caught short later. Plan against the "total cash before the bank" line in the table above, not against the downpayment alone.

There is one more piece of timing worth knowing. The downpayment term runs 32 months from reservation, and turnover is June 2027 — sooner than 32 months from now. You will still be paying downpayment instalments after you have the keys.

Everything Larger Than a 2-Bedroom Still Available in Shantung

Fifteen units, all turning over June 2027. If none of the three above is right, the answer is probably on this table.

Highlighted rows are the three units covered in this article. Five units remain at 85 sqm, three at 101.5 sqm and only two at 118 sqm. Availability moves — every unit is confirmed live before reservation.

How to Choose Between the Three

Strip out the sentiment and it comes down to three rules.

If ₱48,264 a month is your ceiling, do not buy 809A. Buy the same layout at unit 310 for ₱44,073 and keep ₱1.13M. The only reason to pay the 809A premium is if the corner position and the 8th floor specifically matter to you, or if you intend to combine it with 809B as a tandem.

If you can carry ₱66,493 a month, unit 1009 is the best value in the building above 85 sqm. Best rate per square meter of any 3-bedroom over 85 sqm, three balconies, three toilets, a walk-in closet and a real kitchen. Two of them are left.

If you want the biggest bedroom rather than the most bedrooms’ worth of space, take 1607. Its 15.55 sqm master is the largest single bedroom of the three — bigger than the master in the 118 sqm unit — and every bedroom in it is 10.50 sqm or larger. It is also the highest floor of the three at the 16th.

See the Floor Plans Before You Decide

Square meters on a pricelist tell you very little about how a unit lives. The 118 sqm is not simply a stretched version of the 85 sqm — it has a different number of toilets, a walk-in closet, a utility room and three separate balconies. The full DMCI unit layout sheets and the Shantung building floor plans for the 8th, 10th and 16th floors are all reproduced at full size, with every room dimension, on the presentation page and in the downloadable PDF.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a 3-bedroom at Mulberry Place Shantung?

Available 3-bedroom units at Shantung run from ₱12,124,000 for an 85 sqm unit to ₱18,606,000 for a 118 sqm unit, per the DMCI Homes pricelist dated 27 July 2026. The three units covered in this article are 809A at ₱13,253,000 (85 sqm), 1607 at ₱15,802,000 (101.5 sqm) and 1009 at ₱18,163,000 (118 sqm).

Which Mulberry Place Shantung 3-bedroom has the best price per square meter?

Among the three featured units, unit 1009 at 118 sqm has the best rate at ₱153,924 per sqm. Across all ten available 3-bedrooms in Shantung, the lowest rate is unit 310 at ₱142,635 per sqm (85 sqm) and the highest is unit 1516 at ₱161,980 per sqm (101.5 sqm) — a spread of 13.6% within the same building.

What is the monthly payment for a 3-bedroom at Mulberry Place Shantung?

On the standard 12% downpayment over 32 months with the 1% discount, the monthly is ₱48,264 for unit 809A, ₱57,727 for unit 1607 and ₱66,493 for unit 1009. That figure is the downpayment less the ₱30,000 reservation fee, divided by 32. Bank amortization on the remaining 88% starts after turnover.

When does Mulberry Place Shantung turn over?

Shantung, which is Building F, turns over 30 June 2027. It is the first Phase 2 building at Mulberry Place to be delivered — Taffeta follows in August 2028 and Zephyr in October 2028.

What is the downpayment term for Shantung at Mulberry Place?

Shantung runs a 32-month downpayment term. This is set per building, not per project — Taffeta at the same development runs 50 months. The ₱30,000 reservation fee is deducted from the downpayment rather than added to it.

How many 3-bedroom units are left at Mulberry Place Shantung?

Ten, as of the 27 July 2026 pricelist: five at 85 sqm, three at 101.5 sqm and two at 118 sqm. There are also five 4-bedroom units left at 152 sqm, including one penthouse.

What is the difference between gross area and unit area at Mulberry Place?

Gross area is interior floor area plus every balcony, and it is what the price is computed on. The 118 sqm unit, for example, is 99.00 sqm of interior space plus balconies of 10.00, 5.00 and 4.00 sqm. The big headline number on a DMCI unit layout sheet is the interior figure, so it will never match the pricelist — look for the "gross floor area" line on the sheet instead.

How much are closing fees at Mulberry Place?

Approximately 9.6% of the net contract price, payable separately from the downpayment. That is ₱1,259,565 on unit 809A, ₱1,501,822 on unit 1607 and ₱1,726,212 on unit 1009. Budget for it alongside the downpayment, not after it.

Is unit 809A worth the premium over the cheaper 85 sqm units?

Only if the position matters to you specifically. 809A is a corner unit on the 8th floor facing the Makati and BGC side, and it can be paired with 809B as a tandem. But it costs ₱1,129,000 more than unit 310 for the identical layout, and about ₱2,290,012 more over the full life of the purchase once closing fees and 20 years of bank amortization are counted.

Can I get a bigger discount with a higher downpayment at Mulberry Place?

Yes. A 30% downpayment earns a 4% discount instead of 1%, on the same 32-month term. On unit 1009 that takes the net contract price to ₱17,436,480 and the bank loan down to ₱12,205,536, saving ₱544,890 on price — but the monthly rises to ₱162,530 over the 32 months.

Want the numbers run on a specific unit, floor or facing? Talk to Jean, or open the Shantung vs Taffeta computation for the full side-by-side.

Related reading:

• Mulberry Place Shantung — the full 3BR presentation with floor plans
• Mulberry Place vs Alder Residences: Which Acacia Estates Condo Fits You?
• Acacia Estates: DMCI's ₱4.5-Billion Township in Taguig
• The Condo Unit Layout Checklist: What to Look for on a Floor Plan