By Lee C. Chipongian

The central bank said residential property prices went up by 4.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018 with townhouses leading the increase.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) increased to 116.5 as of end-September from 111.6 same time in 2017.

Prices of townhouses rose by 18.3 percent while condominium units and single detached housing units increased by 5.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The RREPI, which was based on banks’ housing loans, measures the average change in prices of various types of housing units comprising of single detached house, duplex, townhouse, and condominium unit.

“It provides a valuable tool in assessing the real estate and credit market conditions in the country,” said the BSP. Prices of duplex units which the BSP said is 0.76 percent of total new housing units reported, grew by 30.7 percent year-on-year.

On a quarterly basis, RREPI dipped by 0.6 percent, according to the BSP. In a statement, the BSP said the average residential property prices in both National Capital Region (NCR) and in areas outside of the NCR grew by 6.8 percent and 2.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

“In NCR, price increases were observed across all types of housing units. Meanwhile, the growth in prices of townhouses, duplex housing units, and condominium units outweighed the slight decline in prices of single detached houses in areas outside of the NCR,” said the BSP.

The BSP said that for the third quarter period, about 71 percent of residential real estate loans (RRELs) were for the acquisition of new housing units. By type of housing unit, 53.2 percent of residential property loans were for the purchase of condominium units, followed by single detached units (38.3 percent), and townhouses (7.6 percent), it said.

By area, the central bank stated that majority of the RRELs granted in the NCR were for the purchase of condominium units, while RRELs granted in areas outside of the NCR were for single detached houses.

By region, the NCR had 57.4 percent of the total number of RRELs in the third quarter.

In areas outside of the NCR, CALABARZON accounted for 23.4 percent, Central Luzon had five percent, Central Visayas had 4.2 percent, Western Visayas had 3.3 percent, Davao Region had 2.4 percent, and Northern Mindanao had 1.4 percent. “Together, the NCR and the six other regions accounted for 97.1 percent of total housing loans granted by banks,” said the BSP.