Property prices post slower growth in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Property prices continued to increase year-on-year as prices rose across all housing types in the first quarter, but the growth rate slowed for the fourth straight time during the period and marked the slowest in almost two years.

Based on data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) rose by 6.1 percent to 163.5 in the first quarter from 154.1 in the same period last year.

However, the latest growth rate was slower than the 6.5 percent expansion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. It also marked the slowest since the 2.6 percent rise in the second quarter of 2022.

“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 the fourth quarter of 2023,” the BSP said.

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.

Quarter-on-quarter, the BSP reported a 1.1 percent increase in residential real estate prices in the first quarter from the RREPI of 161.7 in the fourth quarter last year.

According to the BSP, the increase in the nationwide RREPI was mainly driven by the rise in the prices of duplex housing units, condominium units, townhouses and single-detached/attached houses.

The index showed that the prices of condominium units went up by 10.2 percent to 208.4; followed by townhouses, up by 5.6 percent to 212.4, and single-detached/attached units, up by 5.1 percent to 138.8.

Meanwhile, the prices of duplex units climbed by 36.2 percent to 260.8 in the first quarter, registering the highest annual growth rate among all housing types.

However, the BSP said the number of transactions for duplex housing units were relatively low in the first quarter as it only accounted for 0.28 percent of the 7,566 new housing units sold during the period. Most of these transactions were high-valued properties, which pulled the average price index upwards.

The BSP also attributed the year-on-year pickup in nationwide housing prices to the 2.8 percent rise in residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) to 172.7 in the first quarter from 168 a year ago.

Likewise, the residential real estate prices in areas outside the NCR (AONCR) rose by 7.4 percent to 160.3 from 149.2 a year before.

Meanwhile, the BSP reported an 8.9 percent increase in the number of real estate loans granted for all types of new housing units in the country from January to March.

This was fueled by the 3.2 percent and 11.4 percent growth in residential real estate loans in NCR and areas outside NCR, respectively.

In the first quarter, the average appraised value of new housing units in the country stood at P82,260 per square meter. The average appraised value per sqm was higher in the NCR at P132,743 than both the national and AONCR average at P61,163.

Calabarzon had the biggest share at 34 percent, followed by NCR with 26.3 percent, Central Luzon with 13.3 percent, Western Visayas with 6.6 percent, Central Visayas with 6.1 percent, Davao Region with 4.8 percent and Northern Mindanao with two percent.