HIGHER PRICES. Prices of housing units in the country rose by 7.7 percent annually in the last quarter of 2022, latest Residential Real Estate Price Indices showed. The data released Friday (March 31, 2023) exclude prices of townhouses outside the National Capital Region. (PNA file photo)
MANILA – Prices of residential real estate in the Philippines registered faster year-on-year growth in the last quarter of 2022 but slower quarter-on-quarter, except for the townhouses outside the National Capital Region (NCR).
Residential Real Estate Price Indices (RREPI) data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday showed a 7.7 percent year-on-year expansion in real estate prices nationwide while the change from the end-September 2022 level is at 2.2 percent.
In particular, housing prices in NCR inched up by 16.1 percent compared to the last quarter of 2021 and this covers all types of housing units.
On the other hand, the rise in Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR) is slower at 4.5 percent, but this excludes townhouses.
Expansion relative to the end-September 2022 level is faster for AONCR at 4.8 percent compared to the 2.4 percent in the NCR.
Nationwide, prices of duplex housing units led the increase in the RREPI at 42.9 percent, and was followed by the condominium units, 12.9 percent; and single-detached/attached houses, 10 percent.
Prices of townhouses, meanwhile, declined for the second consecutive quarter, with the fourth quarter 2022 figure at 6.8 percent.
Compared to the third quarter 2022 levels, RREPI grew by 2.2 percent due to higher prices of duplex housing units, townhouses, and single detached/attached houses.
Prices of condominium units, however, went down quarter-on-quarter, the latest report said.
Meanwhile, the report said the number of residential real estate loans (RRELs) for all housing types of new housing units slipped by 10.3 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2022, with those from NCR down by 22 percent and those in AONCR by 3.4 percent.
Also, availment of housing loans contracted by 4.5 percent quarter-on-quarter from October to December 2022 due to the 23.5 percent drop in RRELs in NCR amidst the 8.5 percent rise in RRELs in AONCR.
In terms of usage of the RRELs in the last quarter of 2022, 81.1 percent were used to purchase new housing units.
Bulk of these housing units is accounted for by single-detached/attached units, 47.2 percent; trailed by condominium units, 33 percent; and townhouses, 18.9 percent. (PNA)
