Residential real estate prices show growth in fourth quarter of 2023

Residential real estate prices rose year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023, but registered a contraction quarter-on-quarter, according to a report by Philippine News Agency.

Residential Real Estate Price Indices (RREPI) data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Wednesday showed a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase in residential real estate prices nationwide.

The BSP however said that quarter-on-quarter, the index recorded a contraction of 3.6 percent.

The RREPI is a measure of the average change in the prices of various types of housing units, such as single-detached or attached houses, duplex housing units, townhouses, and condominium units, based on banks’ data on actual mortgage loans granted to acquire new housing units.

Growth in residential property prices in the National Capital Region rose by 4.3 percent as the growth in the prices of single-detached or attached houses and townhouses outweighed the decline in the prices of condominium units.

Residential property prices in the Areas Outside the NCR (AONCR), on the other hand, went up by 7.8 percent.

The central bank said growth was "driven by annual increases in the prices of all types of housing units, except for duplex housing units where growth contracted."

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, residential property prices declined by 9.4 percent and 1.2 percent in the NCR and AONCR, respectively.

By housing type, prices of single-detached or attached houses registered the highest year-on-year growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 at 9.5 percent, followed by townhouses (4.9 percent), and condominium units (4.1 percent).

Prices of duplex housing units however decreased by 33.5 percent.

The central bank said nationwide loan availments for new housing units recorded double-digit growth both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.

The appraised value of new housing units in the country, meanwhile, stood at PHP89,042 per square meter (sqm), up by 19.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022.

The average appraised value per sqm in the NCR was at PHP134,178, higher by 5.5 percent year-on-year while the appraised value per sqm in AONCR likewise went up 31.8 percent to PHP65,186.