Housing, car loans post double-digit growths

Housing and car loans extended by banks in the country grew at a double-digit pace in the first quarter as lenders serviced the growing demands of Filipino households for big-ticket purchases.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also reported that credit-card loans extended by the banks grew 12.65 percent to P159.1 billion by the end of the first quarter from P141.24 billion last year. Of this, nonperforming credit-card loans, or those that have remained unpaid for a certain period after due date, accounted for 11.24 percent, or P17.88 billion of the total credit-card receivables of banks as of end-March. Although it remained at a double-digit level, it was better than the 13.19 percent recorded in the same period last year.

The appetite of households for residential properties and automobiles was partly attributed to the growing remittances from overseas Filipinos. Money sent by OFWs encouraged households to purchase big-ticket items with the help of bank loans, economists said.

Outstanding housing loans from universal and commercial banks and thrift banks reached P232.57 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 21 percent from P192 billion as of the same period last year, documents from the BSP showed.

The significant increase in housing loans has prompted regulators to closely monitor the quality of such loans. The BSP said that it did not see any threat of an asset price bubble so far, but admitted it was keeping a close watch on the banking sector’s extension of housing loans.

Of the outstanding housing loans, the bigger share of P132 billion was extended by universal and commercial banks. The remaining P100.57 billion was extended by thrift banks.

Moreover, 4.21 percent of outstanding housing loans were nonperforming. This was an improvement from the 5.05 percent recorded a year ago. Loans become nonperforming if amortization has not been paid within a certain period following due dates.

The BSP also reported that outstanding automobile loans likewise grew 16.6 percent to P144.84 billion by the end of the first quarter from P124.22 billion a year ago.

Of the outstanding automobile loans, P74.98 billion was extended by universal and commercial banks. Thrift banks accounted for the balance of P69.86 billion. A little over 4 percent of the outstanding automobile loans were nonperforming. This was slightly better than the 4.4 percent recorded a year ago.