Property prices up 2.1% in Q1
The central bank said residential real estate prices are up by 2.1 percent in the first quarter compared to same time in 2017, with townhouses and condominiums both reporting increases.
Based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) latest Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) – which measures average price changes – this went up to 116.3 from 113.9 end-March of 2017.
Prices of townhouses and condominium units reported an increase of 13.8 percent and two percent, respectively while those of single detached housing units dropped 0.6 percent.
On a quarter-onquarter basis, the RREPI is down by 0.9 percent, the BSP noted.
Residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) and in areas outside of the NCR increased by 2.7 percent and 0.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.
According to the BSP, “in NCR, the higher growth in prices of condominium units, townhouses, and duplexes offset the decline in prices of single detached houses. Meanwhile, the higher increase in prices of townhouses and duplexes in areas outside NCR, outweighed the decrease in prices of single detached houses and condominium units.”
The BSP said about seven in ten or 73.5 percent of residential real estate loans were taken out to buy new housing units during the period.
Borrowers mostly bought condominium units or about 48.9 percent of residential property loans. About 43.2 percent of loans were used to purchase single detached units and 7.6 percent for townhouses.
“By area, condominium units were the most common house purchases in NCR, while single detached houses were prevalent in areas outside NCR,” said the BSP.
As of end-March, NCR accounted for 48.3 percent of the total number of residential real estate loans granted during the quarter, followed CALABARZON (25.5 percent), Central Luzon (7.1 percent), Central Visayas (5.5 percent), Western Visayas (4.3 percent), Davao Region (3.2 percent) and Northern Mindanao (1.8 percent), the BSP stated. “Together, these seven regions accounted for 95.7 percent of total housing loans granted by banks.”
The RREPI measures the average change in prices of various types of housing units comprising of single detached/attached house, duplex, townhouse, and condominium unit based on data from housing loans granted by universal, commercial, and thrift banks.
The banking sector’s real estate exposure as of end-March was up almost 15 percent year-on-year to R1.9 trillion. Including banks’ trust units, the amount is 13.35 percent higher year-onyear to R2.1 trillion.
The total residential real estate loans to total loan portfolio continue to be manageable, the BSP said in a report, and in terms of loan quality the non performing residential real estate loans remained unchanged. (LCC)