Residential property prices rose 4.9% in Q4 2021

Residential property prices went up by 4.9 percent year-on-year across the Philippines in the fourth quarter of 2021 as consumers preferred to buy during the period.

The latest Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) report from the Bangko Sentral ng PiIipinas (BSP) also showed that fourth quarter prices compared to the previous quarter increased by 1.1 percent.

The BSP said the behavior of prices of various types of new housing units in the Philippines was consistent with findings from the Consumer Expectations Survey that covered the last three months of 2021.

The latest growth figures were driven by the sustained demand for residential property, particularly for townhouses and condominium units, the BSP said.

Prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) increased by 5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, but slower than the 11.4-percent yearly growth observed in the third quarter. At the same time, growth prices outside NCR were stable at about 5 percent.

“Prices in both areas (NCR and areas outside NCR or AONCR) were driven mainly by the rise in the prices of condominium units and townhouses, which more than offset the decline in the prices of duplex housing units and single-detached/attached houses,” the BSP said. In terms of the type of housing units, prices of townhouses and condominium units increased by 22.6 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively.

“In the case of condominium units, the upward trend in prices was mainly attributed to the units in the AONCR,” the BSP said. “By contrast, prices of duplex housing units and single-detached/attached houses contracted by 10.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.” In the fourth quarter last year, the number of residential real estate loans (RRELs) granted for all types of new housing units in the Philippines contracted by 11.5 percent yearly. However, this expanded by 2 percent quarter-on-quarter.

The average appraised value of new housing units in the country stood at P74,347 per square meter.

Meanwhile, the average appraised value per square meter was higher in the NCR at P115,235 than both the national average and AONCR average (at P49,905).

In the fourth quarter, close to three-quarters of RRELs were used to purchase new housing units, particularly condominium units.

—Ronnel W. Domingo