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Philippines: Q3 residential estate prices down 0.4%

Residential real estate prices in the country slipped by 0.4 percent year-on-year in July to September, while it contracted 14.1-percent quarter-on-quarter, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

BSP on Wednesday said the negative year-on-year growth of the Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) in the third quarter is its first since beginning the report in 2016.

The central bank said the decline may partly be caused by the weak consumer demand for houses and lots.

“This is consistent with the outcome of the Q3 (third quarter) 2020 Consumer Expectations Survey, which pointed to the low preference of consumers to buy real estate property amid the pandemic and economic uncertainty,” BSP said in a statement.

By region, residential property prices in the National Capital Region (NCR) was down 12.2 percent year-on-year, while those in the areas outside NCR (AONCR) rose 6.4 percent.

BSP said the decrease in prices of condominium units and duplexes in Metro Manila offset the increase in prices of single detached/attached houses and townhouses during the period.

Prices across all types of housing units in AONCR, however, climbed, except for that of duplexes.

By housing units types, prices of condominium units and duplexes slumped year-on-year in the third quarter by 15 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.

Prices of townhouses and single detached/attached houses, on the other hand, improved by 12 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.

The number of residential real estate loans (RREL) granted for the quarter, meanwhile, was 43.3-percent lower on a yearly basis, but 59.7-percent higher quarter-on-quarter.

Purchase of new housing units accounted for 74.9 percent of RRELs in July to September.

The loans were mostly used for acquisition of condominium units at 48.7 percent, single detached/attached houses at 43 percent and townhouses at 7.9 percent.

The RREPI is a measure of the average change in the prices of different housing units based on banks’ data on actual loans granted to acquire new housing units only.

The index is used as an indicator for assessing the real estate and credit market conditions in the country.

Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/12/24/business/business-top/q3-residential-estate-prices-down-0-4/816855/