Residential real estate prices increase in first quarter
Residential real estate prices of various types of new housing units in the Philippines continued to increase in the first quarter, rising by 6.1 percent year-on-year, albeit at a slightly slower pace than the 6.5 percent growth in fourth quarter of 2023.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, housing prices rebounded by 1.1 percent from the 3.6 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2023.
On a year-on-year basis, residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose by 2.8 percent in the first quarter as the growth in the prices of townhouses and condominium units outweighed the decline in the prices of single-detached/attached houses.
Likewise, residential property prices in Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR) grew by 7.4 percent, driven by annual increases in the prices of all types of housing units.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, residential property prices in AONCR rose by 4.1 percent, while those in the NCR declined by 5.6 percent.
By housing type (excluding the duplex housing units), condominium registered the highest year-on-year growth rate in the first quarter (at 10.2 percent), followed by townhouses (at 5.6 percent), and single-detached/attached houses (at 5.1 percent).
Similarly, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, all housing types recorded price increases in the first quarter. Excluding those of the duplex housing units, prices of townhouses grew the fastest (at 4.4 percent), followed by condominium units (at 0.5 percent), and single-detached/attached houses (at 0.4 percent).
In the first quarter , the number of residential real estate loans (RRELs) granted for all types of new housing units in the Philippines grew by 8.9 percent year-on-year, with those from the NCR and AONCR rising by 3.2 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.
By contrast, nationwide housing loan availments fell by 24.2 percent quarter- on-quarter due to the 35.3 percent and 18.2 percent decline in the number of RRELs in the NCR and AONCR, respectively.
The total number of RRELs granted in the Philippines rose by 5 percent as the 8.5 percent growth in AONCR offset the 3.6 percent decline in the NCR.
Meanwhile, the total number of transactions decreased by 23.2 percent quarter-on-quarter, brought about by the 34.1 percent and 18.4 percent drop in the number of RRELs in the NCR and AONCR, respectively.
In the first quarter, the appraised value of new housing units in the country averaged to P82,260 per square meter (sqm), registering a 11.6 percent growth over the comparable year-ago level as opposed to the 7.6 percent contraction from the quarter-ago level.
Likewise, the average appraised value per sqm in the NCR increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year but declined by 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to P132,743 per sqm.
In the same way, the average appraised value per sqm in AONCR expanded by 18.9 percent year-on-year but declined by 6.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to P61,163. It may be noted that the average appraised value of properties in the NCR is more than double that of AONCR.
The weight of each type of housing unit in the RREPI is determined by dividing the total floor area (in sqm) of a specific type of housing unit over the total floor area of all housing types.
In the first quarter, single-detached/attached houses continued to constitute the largest weight in the RREPI at 52.4 percent.
Meanwhile, condominium units, townhouses, and duplex housing units accounted for 25.3 percent, 22.1 percent, and 0.3 percent in the calculation of the RREPI, respectively.
In first quarter, 83.5 percent of residential real estate loan (RRELs) transactions were used to purchase new housing units.
Meanwhile, by type of housing unit, most of the residential property loans were used for the acquisition of single-detached/attached houses at 43 percent, followed by condominium units (34.7 percent), and townhouses (22 percent).
Most of the RRELs granted in the NCR were for the purchase of condominium units, while RRELs granted in AONCR were for the purchase of single-detached/attached houses.
By region, 26.3 percent of the total number of RRELs granted were from the NCR. The other regions, which contributed significantly to the number of RRELS granted, were as follows: Calabarzon (34 percent), Central Luzon (13.3 percent), Western Visayas (6.6 percent), Central Visayas (6.1 percent), Davao Region (4.8 percent), and Northern Mindanao (2 percent).
The regions, including the NCR, comprised 93.1 percent of the total housing loans granted by banks. BSP
