House prices rise in Q3

Residential real estate prices went up by 6.5 percent year-on-year in the third quarter due to price increases of duplex housing and condominiums as demand for housing continued to rise, according to the central bank.

Based on the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI), home property prices also increased by 4.6 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the fastest rate of increase compared to 1.6 percent in the second quarter and 0.7 percent in the first three months of 2022.

The BSP utilizes the RREPI to assess credit market conditions of the real estate sector. Since index measures the average change in the prices of various types of housing units based on banks’ data on mortgage loans, it can effectively track the prices of single-detached/attached houses, duplex housing units, townhouses, and condominium units.

Under the latest RREPI, the BSP’s average appraised value for new housing units was at P84,589 per square meter (sqm). The average appraised value per sqm in the NCR was P139,283 and P47,129 for areas outside of the NCR.

Housing prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) grew by 17.5 percent year-on-year while prices in areas outside of the NCR also rose by 2.3 percent. Homebuyers purchased new condominiums and single-detached/attached units over townhouses whose prices declined in the third quarter.

“In Q3 2022, prices of duplex housing units, condominium units, and single-detached/attached houses contributed to the YoY (year-on-year) growth in the nationwide RREPI as these prices increased by 26.7 percent, 19.2 percent, and 9.8 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, prices of townhouses declined by 16.3 percent,” said the BSP in a statement.

Quarterly RREPI data, meantime, showed that residential property prices went up by 14.6 percent in the NCR, but dropped by 0.4 percent in the areas outside of the NCR.

The quarter-on-quarter growth was due to the higher prices of condominium units which increased by 12 percent, duplex housing units by 3.4 percent, and single-detached/attached houses by 2.7 percent. However, the prices of townhouses decreased by 2.1 percent.

“Nationwide residential real estate loan availments for new housing units fall YoY, but grow QoQ (quarter-on-quarter),” said the BSP.

Banks’ residential real estate loans (RRELs) during the period declined by 4.2 percent year-on-year as RRELs in the NCR and areas outside of the NCR contracted by two percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, said the BSP.

Nationwide housing loans however rose by 19 percent quarter-on-quarter, following the 32 percent and 11.5 percent growth in RRELs in the NCR and in areas outside of the NCR.

The BSP said about 82.2 percent of RRELs were used to purchase new housing units.

By type of housing unit, 47.5 percent of home loans went to single-detached/attached houses, while 39 percent and 13 percent were used to buy condominium units and townhouses, respectively.

Most of the RRELs granted in the NCR were for the purchase of condominium units, while loans released in areas outside of the NCR were channeled to single-detached/attached houses.

The BSP said 37.1 percent of the total number of RRELs were for the NCR housing units while the rest was spread out over six regions, of which the CALABARZON area accounted for 32.3 percent of total home loans.

Source: BSP

Property prices sustain quarterly growth in Q1

Property prices sustained their growth momentum for three straight quarters, rising by 5.6 percent in the first three months this year amid the further reopening of the economy from strict COVID-19 quarantine and lockdown protocols.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased to 139.6 in the first quarter from 132.2 in the same period last year.

In Q1 2022, the 5.6 percent YoY growth in the nationwide RREPI was mainly driven by the rise in the prices of townhouses, duplex housing units, and condominium units, increasing by 25.6 percent, 20.9 percent, and 14.7 percent, respectively. Conversely, prices of single-detached/attached houses contracted by 2.5 percent

“The year-on-year increase in the RREPI is consistent with the outcome of the Q1 2022 Consumer Expectations Survey, which showed a higher percentage of consumers preferring to buy real estate property in the first quarter of 2022,” the central bank said in a statement. The RREPI, launched in the first quarter of 2016, is used as an indicator for assessing the real estate and credit market conditions in the country.

But economists believe the growth will taper off in the coming months as the central bank’s Monetary Board steps up its tightening cycle to fight mounting inflationary pressures. The BSP started to tweak interest rates after it delivered a 25-basis-point rate hike last May 19, the first in more than three years or since November 2018.

According to the BSP, the increase in the nationwide RREPI in the first quarter was mainly driven by the rise in the prices of townhouses, duplex housing units and condominium units.

The index showed the prices of townhouses jumped by 25.6 percent to 197.4 from 157.2, followed by duplex housing units with 20.9 percent to 160.3 from 132.6, and condominium units with 14.7 percent to 187.2 from 163.2.

On the other hand, prices of single-detached/attached houses contracted by 2.5 percent to 112.7 in the first quarter of the year from 115.6 in the same quarter last year.

The BSP attributed the year-on-year pickup in nationwide housing prices to the 9.5 percent rise in residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) to 156.4 in the first quarter of the year from 142.8 in the same quarter last year, driven by the increase in the prices of condominium units and townhouses that offset the decline in the prices of duplex as well as single detached or attached houses.

Likewise, the residential real estate prices in areas outside NCR grew by five percent to 133.8 from 127.4.

Source: Philstar