Home prices up 7.6% in first quarter of 2025  

Philippine housing unit prices saw an increase in the first quarter of 2025, albeit at a slower pace, driven by higher prices in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a report by Manila Standard.

The nationwide Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) showed a moderation, slowing to 7.6 percent year-on-year in Qthe first quarter of 2025, down from 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The NCR led the nationwide growth in residential property prices in the first quarter of this year, with the region’s index posting a 13.9-percent increase.  This outpaced the 3.0-percent uptick in areas outside the NCR.

Both condominium units and houses contributed to the rise in property prices, with their indices posting 10.6-percent and 4.5-percent growth, respectively. Houses include single-attached or detached, apartments, townhouses and duplexes.

The BSP said the number of residential real estate loans (RRELs) granted across all types of housing units in the Philippines recorded a slower contraction of 1.9 percent from a year ago.

This aligns with the outcome of the first quarter of 2025 Consumer Expectations Survey (CES), which showed consumers’ more pessimistic view on buying a house and lot during the period.

The lower nationwide total was driven by the 3.3-percent decline in AONCR, which outweighed the 2.0-percent increase in the NCR.

Within AONCR, annual loan trends were mixed: fewer loans booked in other areas in the Philippines and balance GMA at 2.2 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively, and higher loan take-up in Metro Cebu and Metro Mindanao at 50.1-percent and 0.8-percent, respectively

For condominium units, the number of RRELs granted for its purchase rose in the first quarter of  2025, though at a slower pace compared with a quarter ago. The annual growth rate moderated from 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 2.6 percent in Q1 2025.

This growth was driven by the increases in both the NCR (at 3.6 percent) and AONCR (at 0.8 percent). Within AONCR, trends in loan availments were mixed. Metro Cebu and Other Areas in the Philippines recorded substantial increases while declines were observed in Balance GMA and Metro Mindanao.

However, on a q-o-q basis, loan availments for condominium units declined across all areas

The RPPI is a measure of the average change in the prices of various types of housing units over time, based on banks data on actual loans granted to acquire residential properties.

It is among the key indicators that the BSP monitors in assessing the country’s real estate and credit market conditions.