Published
By Lee C. Chipongian
The central bank said residential property prices went up by 4.4
percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018 with townhouses
leading the increase.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Residential Real
Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased to 116.5 as of end-September from
111.6 same time in 2017.
Prices of townhouses rose by 18.3 percent while condominium units and
single detached housing units increased by 5.8 percent and 0.2 percent,
respectively.
The RREPI, which was based on banks’ housing loans, measures the
average change in prices of various types of housing units comprising of
single detached house, duplex, townhouse, and condominium unit.
“It provides a valuable tool in assessing the real estate and credit
market conditions in the country,” said the BSP. Prices of duplex units
which the BSP said is 0.76 percent of total new housing units reported,
grew by 30.7 percent year-on-year.
On a quarterly basis, RREPI dipped by 0.6 percent, according
to the BSP. In a statement, the BSP said the average residential
property prices in both National Capital Region (NCR) and in areas
outside of the NCR grew by 6.8 percent and 2.2 percent year-on-year,
respectively.
“In NCR, price increases were observed across all types of housing
units. Meanwhile, the growth in prices of townhouses, duplex housing
units, and condominium units outweighed the slight decline in prices of
single detached houses in areas outside of the NCR,” said the BSP.
The BSP said that for the third quarter period, about 71 percent of
residential real estate loans (RRELs) were for the acquisition of new
housing units. By type of housing unit, 53.2 percent of residential
property loans were for the purchase of condominium units, followed by
single detached units (38.3 percent), and townhouses (7.6 percent), it
said.
By area, the central bank stated that majority of the RRELs granted
in the NCR were for the purchase of condominium units, while RRELs
granted in areas outside of the NCR were for single detached houses.
By region, the NCR had 57.4 percent of the total number of RRELs in the third quarter.
In areas outside of the NCR, CALABARZON accounted for 23.4 percent,
Central Luzon had five percent, Central Visayas had 4.2 percent, Western
Visayas had 3.3 percent, Davao Region had 2.4 percent, and Northern
Mindanao had 1.4 percent. “Together, the NCR and the six other regions
accounted for 97.1 percent of total housing loans granted by banks,”
said the BSP.
______________________________________
