Condos corner bulk of real estate loans, but prices flat in Q4, says BSP
Prices of residential townhouse units rose the most in the fourth quarter of 2018 with prices rising by an average of 11.4 percent last year, while those of condominiums inched up only marginally, according to the central bank’s latest real estate monitoring report.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also noted that the condominium market—widely believed to be experiencing high demand due to the entry of Chinese workers in the country—only saw average prices rise by 0.6 percent during the last three months of last year.
This marked a sharp slowdown in price appreciation from the 14.2-percent growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017, which was the highest pace in the central bank’s quarterly database that started in 2016.
For the entire real estate market, the BSP data showed that prices rose only slightly, by 0.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Prices of single detached housing units declined by 1.9 percent during this period, while prices of duplex units, which account for only 0.37 percent of total new housing units reported, also decreased by 3.7 percent year-on-year.
For full year 2018, residential property prices, on average, grew by 2.9 percent, marking a slight slowdown from the 3.6-percent growth rate at the end of 2017.
The central bank’s residential real estate survey measures the average change in the prices of various types of housing units, which are comprised of single detached houses, duplexes, townhouses, and condominium units, based on data from housing loans granted by universal, commercial, and thrift banks.
By area, the average residential property prices in the National Capital Region increased by 1.6 percent year-on-year, while those outside Metro Manila declined by 0.8 percent.
In the NCR, the rise in prices of single detached houses and townhouses more than offset the decline in prices of duplexes and steady prices of condominium units. Outside Metro Manila, the decline in prices of single detached houses outweighed the increase in prices of duplexes, townhouses and condominium units.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, about 75 percent of residential real estate loans were for the acquisition of new housing units.
By type of housing unit, 50.4 percent of residential property loans were for the purchase of condominium units, followed by single detached units (39.8 percent) and townhouses (9.3 percent).
By area, most of the real estate loans granted in Metro Manila were for the purchase of condominium units, while loans granted in the provinces were for single detached houses.
