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Philippines: Property prices sustain quarterly growth in Q1
MANILA, Philippines — Property prices sustained their growth momentum for three straight quarters, rising by 5.6 percent in the first three months this year amid the further reopening of the economy from strict COVID-19 quarantine and lockdown protocols.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased to 139.6 in the first quarter from 132.2 in the same period last year.
“The year-on-year increase in the RREPI is consistent with the outcome of the Q1 2022 Consumer Expectations Survey, which showed a higher percentage of consumers preferring to buy real estate property in the first quarter of 2022,” the central bank said in a statement.
The RREPI, launched in the first quarter of 2016, is used as an indicator for assessing the real estate and credit market conditions in the country.
But economists believe the growth will taper off in the coming months as the central bank’s Monetary Board steps up its tightening cycle to fight mounting inflationary pressures.
The BSP started to tweak interest rates after it delivered a 25-basis-point rate hike last May 19, the first in more than three years or since November 2018.
According to the BSP, the increase in the nationwide RREPI in the first quarter was mainly driven by the rise in the prices of townhouses, duplex housing units and condominium units.
The index showed the prices of townhouses jumped by 25.6 percent to 197.4 from 157.2, followed by duplex housing units with 20.9 percent to 160.3 from 132.6, and condominium units with 14.7 percent to 187.2 from 163.2.
On the other hand, prices of single-detached/attached houses contracted by 2.5 percent to 112.7 in the first quarter of the year from 115.6 in the same quarter last year.
The BSP attributed the year-on-year pickup in nationwide housing prices to the 9.5 percent rise in residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) to 156.4 in the first quarter of the year from 142.8 in the same quarter last year, driven by the increase in the prices of condominium units and townhouses that offset the decline in the prices of duplex as well as single detached or attached houses.
Likewise, the residential real estate prices in areas outside NCR grew by five percent to 133.8 from 127.4.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/06/24/2190429/property-prices-sustain-quarterly-growth-q1