Hot condo market pushes property price growth to fastest pace in over 3 years

Century Properties condo project —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Residential real estate prices for various types of housing units, as measured by the central bank’s Residential Real Estate Price Index, rose by 10.4 percent in the third quarter of 2019 thanks to a surge in the value of condominium units, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In a statement, the bank regulator noted this pace was faster than the 0.4-percent growth during the second quarter of 2019 and the 4.5-percent recorded in the third quarter of last year.

“This was also the highest growth rate observed since the first quarter of 2016,” the BSP said, adding that the increase in property prices was “evident across all types of housing units.”

Prices of condominium units in the third quarter of 2019 registered the highest growth rate since the first quarter of 2016 at 29.1 percent. This was followed by duplexes at 24.8 percent, single detached or attached houses at 2.4 percent and townhouses at 6 percent.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the real estate price index rose by 9.5 percent, with all types of housing units registering price increases over the quarter.

Year-on-year, residential property prices are higher in the National Capital Region and in provincial areas.

The average residential property prices in the third quarter of 2019 in both the Metro Manila and provincial areas increased by 22.2 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, compared to year-ago prices.

In the capital, the increase in prices of duplexes and condominium units outweighed the decline in prices of single detached houses and townhouses. Meanwhile, price increases were observed across all types of housing in the provinces.

For the third quarter of 2019, the purchase of new housing units accounted for 74 percent of residential real estate loans. By type of housing units, more than half (51.8 percent) of residential property loans were used for the acquisition of condominium units, followed by single detached or attached houses (38.1 percent) and townhouses (9.5 percent).

Most of the real estate loans granted in Metro Manila were intended for the purchase of condominium units (43.1 percent), while loans granted in provincial areas were mostly obtained for the purchase of single detached or attached houses (35.5 percent).

By region, Metro Manila accounted for 48.7 percent of the total number of real estate loans granted during the quarter, followed by provincial areas like Calabarzon (25.1 percent); Central Luzon (7.6 percent); Central Visayas (6.5 percent); Western Visayas (3.6 percent); Davao Region (2.8 percent); and Northern Mindanao (2.3 percent).

Together, Metro Manila and these six other regions accounted for 96.6 percent of total housing loans granted by banks.