Housing prices continued to rise in the fourth quarter from a year ago, amid a sustained demand for both residential and commercial projects, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.
The residential real estate price index rose 0.3 percent to 113.9 in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 113.6 in the same period in 2015.
Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the slight uptick in the price index showed there was a sustained demand for both residential and commercial properties.
“We have a large shortage of housing units supported by a big base of young, employed people especially in the services sector,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a statement.
“As the economy continues to grow, demand for commercial space will be sustained,” Guinigundo said.
The slight year-on-year growth in residential real estate prices was slower compared to the 2.2-percent increase registered in the third quarter.
The index measures the average change in prices of various types of housing units covering single detached/attached houses, duplex, condominium and townhouses based on data from housing loans granted by banks.
Data showed that while the growth in prices of townhouses accelerated to 6.2 percent from 4.9 percent in third quarter of 2016, those of condominium units slowed down to 1.8 percent from 3.1 percent.
Meanwhile, prices of single detached units contracted 1 percent in the fourth quarter (from 2.4 percent rise in the previous quarter). Although a decline was noted in the average price of single detached units, the number of loans granted for this type of housing unit remained on an uptrend, registering a 7.2-percent growth from its year-ago level.
Guinigundo said real estate developers became more prudent by doing due diligence of the market as they learned their lesson during the Asian financial crisis.
“In fact some of them build on a pre-lease basis. There are establishments which are willing to sign contracts for lease even before the actual construction of the building. Most important, this very strong sign of economic growth is not confined in the National Capital Region. One sees this construction boom in such areas as Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo,” Guinigundo said.
About seven in 10 real estate loans in the fourth quarter were for the purchase of new housing units (70.5 percent). By type of housing unit, 48.1 percent of residential property loans were for condominium units, followed by single-detached units (43.9 percent) and townhouses (7.6 percent).
All types of housing units registered increases in the number of loans granted compared to their year-ago levels, with condominium units posting the highest growth of 37 percent.
By area, condominium units were the most common house purchases in NCR while single detached houses were dominant in the provinces.
NCR accounted for 51.6 percent of the total number of residential real estate loans granted in the fourth quarter, followed by Calabarzon (25.6 percent), Central Luzon (5.8 percent), Central Visayas (4.7 percent), Western Visayas (3.9 percent), Davao Region (3.8 percent) and Northern Mindanao (1.5 percent).