Residential real estate prices up 1.1% in first quarter: central bank

June 30, 2017

Residential real estate prices went up by 1.1 percent in the first quarter, as the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) rose to 117.2 from 115.9 for the same quarter a year ago, the central bank said Friday. Year-on-year growth in residential real estate prices in the first quarter was slightly higher compared to the 0.3 percent increase registered a quarter ago. Growth in prices of condominium units was faster at 2.7 percent from 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 year-on-year. Single detached units edged higher at 0.4 percent, recovering from a one percent decline in the previous quarter. Those of townhouses slowed down to 1.3 percent  from 6.2 percent a quarter ago. RREPI measures the average change in prices of various types of housing units comprising of single detached/attached house, duplex, condominium, and townhouse based on data from housing loans granted by commercial, universal, and thrift banks. The RREPI in the National Capital Region (NCR) and areas outside NCR grew at a similar pace The average residential property prices in both NCR and areas outside NCR also increased by 1.1 percent in the first quarter compared to year-ago prices. In NCR, growth in real estate prices reverted to positive territory from a negative growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 while those in areas outside NCR moderated for the same period. In NCR, the higher growth in prices of single detached houses and townhouses outweighed the slower increase in prices of condominium units. Meanwhile, in areas outside NCR the double-digit increase in prices of condominium units offset the slight decline in prices of single detached houses and townhouses. For the first quarter, about seven in ten real estate loans were for the purchase of new housing units (69 percent). By type of housing unit, 48.4 percent of residential property loans were for the acquisition of condominium units, followed by single detached units (43.3 percent) and townhouses (7.9 percent). The number of loans granted increased for all types of housing units compared to their year-ago levels, with condominium units posting the highest growth of 26.9 percent. By area, condominium units were the most common house purchases in NCR while single detached houses were prevalent in areas outside NCR. By region, NCR accounted for 44.8 percent of the total number of residential real estate loans granted during the quarter, followed by Calabarzon (29.3 percent), Central Luzon (6.7 percent), Central Visayas (5.7 percent), Western Visayas (5.1 percent), Davao Region (3.2 percent) and Northern Mindanao (1.5 percent). These seven regions accounted for 96.3 percent of total housing loans granted by banks. DMS